


It's a long walk home from here.

by Betrayersfear



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Argonians (Elder Scrolls), Cute, Eventual Romance, F/M, Interspecies Romance, Making stuff up about Argonian biology, Smut, Violence, gonna try my best at romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24054565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betrayersfear/pseuds/Betrayersfear
Summary: Cassius Ordo just wants to be a chef, perhaps even travel all of Tamriel to discover all kinds of cuisine. Unfortunately his wealthy merchant parents won't stop pestering him about joining the family business.During an emotionally charged argument he accepts a challenge, if he can get from Solitude, in the only recently out of civil war Skyrim, back to the Imperial City without using any transport other than his own two feet his parents will allow him to be whatever he wants to be.In Solitude he meets an eccentric Argonian adventurer named She-of-Depths who he manages to hire as a guide/survivalist trainer/bodyguard. She's spontaneous, excitable, affectionate and stealthy enough to sneak up on a deer and slit it's throat before it even knows she's there... she does love good food though so he's got that going for him.This journey will either kill him or make him a better man. He certainly hopes for the latter.
Relationships: OC/OC
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. At least its not Winterhold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all so I didn't want to bloat the summary too much but a bit of additional information.  
> First off this fic started to tell a story about She-of-Depths my latest Skyrim character who I felt was better viewed from an outside perspective ,and the hopeless city boy being saved by the badass lady tickles me, but as I was making up excuses for Cassius to exist/meet her he started to have his own thing so I hope I will be able to have both their stories intertwined in here.  
> As mentioned in the summary this is a post civil war fic, Imperial victory, as for the Dragons and all that. Not gonna be mentioned, feel free to insert your favourite Dragonborn into the world kicking ass and yelling at wolves.  
> This is also my first fic since I was like 17 and writing shitty anime AU's so criticism is always welcome.  
> I hope you enjoy.

Cassius Ordo dismounted carefully outside the gates of Solitude before awkwardly pulling his pack from behind the saddle.  
“Still can’t believe you’re doing this.” Cassius’ older brother Trenard spoke from where he still sat upon his horse.  
“Yeah well if it gets Mother off my back it’ll be worth it.” Cassius tried to put some bravado into his voice but the way Trenard frowned at him told him he hadn’t succeeded in hiding his nerves.  
“Listen Cass, I know you don’t have that many septims but find a guide or a mercenary to help you out at first, should be plenty around so soon after the war, get them to teach you some of the basics.” The casual way Trenard shifted the sword at his hip out of the way as he leaned down to speak more privately spoke volumes about his involvement in said war.  
Cassius shifted uncomfortably at the reminder of how unstable the region still was.  
“You think I won’t make it by myself?” Cassius burst out after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.  
“I know you won’t. But I can’t say anything more, Mother was very clear that I shouldn’t help you at all and I’ve already messed that up. Stay safe Cass.” On that final somber note Trenard grabbed the reins of Cassius’ horse and turned them both south, he was soon up to a smooth canter and then out of sight.  
Cassius took a deep breath after they’d disappeared and turned to face the wide open gates of Solitude.

Joining the quiet mid morning traffic Cassius was soon into the city with only a cursory look through his belongings by the gate guard.  
Once he was in and past a few buildings he stopped, unsure of where to go. Looking around he couldn’t see anything that looked like a Fighters Guild building.  
Suddenly conscious of his location in the middle of the street Cassius quickly slipped to the edge to continue looking along the main street.  
“What are you looking for hmm?” A voice from his left caused Cassius to jump.  
Flushing red he turned to face the person who had spoken to him to come face to face with a guard, one of her eyebrows arched in curiosity.  
“Oh uhh I’m looking for a umm, a mercenary?” Cassius’ blush only grew hotter at his awkwardness.  
The guard smirked at him as she looked him up and down.  
“Try the Winking Skeever, a lot of mercs like to spend their money there, you might find one that is almost out of septims.” The guard indicated the direction with a quick tilt of her head.  
“Oh, thank you very much.” Cassius smiled widely, relieved to finally have some direction.  
“It’s no bother… if you don’t find anyone come and find me and we’ll figure out a better use for those hands than holding onto that pack.” a sultry smile and unsubtle wink followed the guards words and Cassius was glad that he couldn’t get any redder as he turned away.  
He’d had enough attention from women and men in the Imperial City, he’d been teasingly informed that his taller than average height for an imperial, inherited from his Nord mother, played a large part, that he was confident in his looks, but he’d never experienced such a direct proposition.  
“Uhh, yes of course.” With that Cassius turned and fled, the guards laughter following him down the street.

Standing in front of the door to the Winking Skeever, Cassius hitched his pack higher and took a deep steadying breath before pulling it open.  
Stepping inside he was immediately assailed by noise, drunken conversation and laughter punctuated by the thumps of tankards on tables despite the fact it was before noon.  
Steeling his resolve Cassius approached what appeared to him as the most likely candidate, a heavy set Nord leaning against a wall who appeared only a tankard or two into his days drinking.  
“Excuse, excuse me can I talk to y-” Cassius was interrupted by the Nord as soon as he had the warriors attention.  
“Yeah what do you want boy?”  
“... I need a guide and guard to the Imperial City or-” interrupted again Cassius tried not to let his annoyance show as the Nord laughed in his face.  
“A job like that would cost thousands of septims and if you had that kinda money you wouldn’t be hiring here, now get out of my face.” The Nord drained his tankard and loudly yelled for another ignoring Cassius’ continued presence.  
Wisely stepping away Cassius then spent the next few hours fruitlessly searching for anyone willing to work for him but after the spectacle with the Nord he was lucky if he got a response as polite as “Go away.”.  
After a particularly vicious looking Dunmer pulled a dagger on him Cassius retreated into a corner, running his hands through his hair Cassius was about to give up and head back to the flirtatious guard when a rasping voice spoke from the shadows behind him.  
“She-of-Depths is looking for work.”  
Recovering from his second embarrassing jump of the day Cassius spun only for the words he was about to say to die on his tongue as all he saw in the shadows was a pair of bright green eyes..  
“I… I uhh...yes?” Cassius instinctively backed up a couple steps even as he tried to speak.  
The creature stepped forward to reveal herself as a female Argonian with unusual dark purple colouring.  
Gathering himself after a few seconds of the Argonian staring at him curiously Cassius cleared his throat and began to speak  
“Yes well I’m certainly interested, what uhh, what skills do you have?”  
She-of-Depths bared her teeth in what Cassius hoped was meant to be a friendly gesture  
“She-of-Depths is a skilled and powerful killer, she can protect from man, mer and beast, can hunt, cook and much more.” her voice was calm and confident as she listed her skills.  
“Oh you won’t need to cook, that at least I can do, I’m a trained chef… My name is Cassius Ordo by the way.” Cassius stuck out his hand smiling nervously, somewhat put off by the Argonians odd way of speaking, and She-of-Depths grasped it firmly, her “grin” widening and a sound halfway between a purr and a gurgle escaped from her at Cassius’ mention of being a chef.  
“Cassius Ordo can cook instead of She-of-Depths, that is good, gets Cassius Ordo a discount.”  
As she stepped further out of the shadows Cassius was able to get a good look at her, she certainly seemed capable, muscled arms and powerful legs leading into, from what he could see under her armour, a toned and fit torso.  
Mind jumping back to the conversation at hand Cassius noticed that she was still holding his hand firmly with no sign of letting go, unsure what to do Cassius let her do it and tried to ignore his rising blush.  
“So uhh, speaking of discounts, how much do you- does She-of-Depths charge for a trip like this?” Another little purr gurgle came from her after his attempt at her use of third person speech.  
“Hmm, She-of-Depths will decide when we get there, she has good feeling about Cassius Ordo and thinks he will earn more discounts.” This time Cassius was moderately more certain the baring of her teeth was friendly.  
“Oh, well thank you.” Cassius still wasn’t certain about the strange Argonian but he also knew he had no other choice.  
At this point She-of-Depths seemed to realise she was still gripping his hand and let go after a quick glance down.  
Cassius suddenly felt exhausted as the tension left his body now that he had finally succeeded at getting a guard even if he had concerns.  
Clearing his throat he asked a question that would change his life forever.  
“So, when can you leave?”  
There was no mistaking her happiness this time as she grasped both his hands in hers and did a little jump.  
“She-of-Depths can leave right now.” True to her word she grabbed a pack leaning against the wall pulling it over her shoulders easily.  
Despite his tiredness Cassius was eager to leave this place and start the long trip home.  
“Let’s get going then.”  
She-of-Depths responded with another gurgling purr and grabbed his hand to drag him towards the exit, her tail lashing from side to side excitedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's chapter 1, please let me know what you think. Is Cassius too innocent white boy? She-of-Depths too... herself.  
> Also I really hope the purr/gurgle thing comes across as cute as I hope.  
> I'll be looking at describing kit and looks a bit more next chapter once they're out and in the sunlight for any that might be curious.  
> Uhh, notes notes notesnotesnotes.


	2. Trust me, I'm a professional

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah chapter 2 exists.   
> Now I know I said I'd describe gear in this chapter but uhh, I didn't so yeah I guess I'll do it here.  
> If you play Skyrim modded, and you should, you've probably come across the "Immersive Armors" mod. She-of-Depths is wearing more or less the Mercenary armour from that, just with no gloves.   
> Cassius is wearing your favourite brand of generic Skyrim npc clothes, nothing too fancy mind.  
> In other news this chapter was meant to get them out of Solitude and end at the first night but that didn't happen so I'm hoping to write up chapter 3 with all that happening today and then probably chill for a couple days.   
> That does sadly mean the smut will be pushed back by at least a chapter. Don't wanna rush these things.  
> Enjoy y'all

Swiftly dragged outside, Cassius was soon blinking in the sunlight trying not to stumble as She-of-Depths pace did not falter.   
Looking down at his hand in hers and following her arm up to the Argonian in question, Cassius was surprised to notice how short she was.   
At the inn she’d seemed to dwarf him with her presence but in reality the top of her head barely reached his shoulders.   
Cassius was pulled from his observations by the realisation that she was talking to him.  
“Huh I’m sorry what did you say?” Cassius asked sheepishly.   
She-of-Depths looked over her shoulder as she spoke,  
“Cassius Ordo can cook mud crab, yes? Many mud crabs in marsh to east.”   
“Oh uhh yes I can but I’ll need to buy some things before we leave then” Cassius was already thinking of how best to cook the crab as he spoke.   
She-of-Depths stopped and turned to look at him quizzically   
“What Cassius Ordo need to buy? He has pot, She-of-Depths can make fire.”   
“Mud crab is better with garlic and butter, and a few more things. Trust me you’ll like this.”   
With a quick smile at She-of-Depths he turned to head towards the produce stalls he’d spotted earlier.

Entering the busy square Cassius looked around at his options still forming a list of ingredients he’d need for that night, and the next few nights he realised.   
Touching the coin pouch at his waist he hoped the prices weren’t too much higher than the Imperial City, he’d have to hope to earn a lot more discounts from She-of-Depths.   
“She-of-Depths has coin if Cassius Ordo needs more.” the rasping voice from right next to him caused Cassius to jump yet again.   
Looking down at She-of-Depths and trying to ignore the flush of his cheeks, Cassius voiced his concerns.  
“No I should have enough, it’s just if it’s too expensive then I’ll need to earn more, or get a great many discounts from you.”   
She-of-Depths chuckled ,  
“Cassius Ordo best cook well then. Urssi Dark-Hair has best cheeses, Bjorn the Paunch has best mead, Sisters Olfina and Tova have best fresh produce.” She pointed at each stall mentioned as she listed them.  
Deciding to take her word for it Cassius headed towards the stall of Urssi Dark-Hair.   
As he approached the stall Urssi smiled not at him but at She-of-Depths beside him.  
“She-of-Depths! Who’s this strapping man escorting you hmm?”   
Cassius blinked at the boisterous Nord woman as her and She-of-Depths shared a laugh.  
“She-of-Depths has work, taking Cassius Ordo back to Imperial City, he is cooking for She-of-Depths.”   
“Oh, is he now? Then I should do my job, what do you need young man?” Urssi smiled widely, the saleswoman coming to the fore.  
“I need butter, a quarter of a pound should do, and whatever cheeses you have, at least 3 wheels worth.” Cassius gave her his best smile hoping to lower her prices.  
“That much ehh? Easily done, that’ll be fifteen septims.”   
Cassius couldn’t believe his ears, he would have been charged at least twenty five for that back home. He eagerly pulled the money out of his coin pouch and was about to hand it to the grinning Urssi when a purple hand grabbed his wrist.  
“Cassius Ordo, Urssi charges too much.” She-of-Depths directed a glare at Urssi who only laughed.  
“Don’t look at me like that Depths, he’s an Imperial I expected him to haggle at least a bit.”   
Trying to defuse any tension Cassius spoke up.  
“No it’s ok, I would have been charged much more back home.”   
All that happened is She-of-Depths momentarily shifting her glare to him and tightening her hold on his wrist before turning back to Urssi.  
“Oh fine fine, an extra half wheel.” Urssi threw her hands up in mock despair still smiling broadly.  
She-of-Depths grinned at Urssi and released Cassius’ wrist.  
Shakily handing the coins over after the extra cheese was added, Cassius still wasn’t sure how to feel about the situation, he’d seen punches thrown over haggling in the Imperial City.   
She-of-Depths and Urssi talked while he wrestled the packages into his pack, pushing aside books and cooking tools to fit it in.   
When he finished he looked up to see She-of-Depths and Urssi looking at him amused.   
“Cassius Ordo is ready to go?” She-of-Depths asked teeth bared in what he still hoped was a smile.  
“Uhh yeah need to grab some other things.” Cassius ran his hands through his hair.  
Urssi grinned at him again,  
“You two have fun then, and Cassius? You look after Depths out there.”   
“Yes? I uhh, I will.” Cassius replied awkwardly not understanding what Urssi meant since he was clearly the one in need of looking after.   
After that Cassius and She-of-Depths did a lap around the square, every stall holder they spoke with ended the conversation with some variation of “Take care of She-of-Depths.”   
By the time they finished and had stopped at a small grassy patch just off the square Cassius had his arms full of things that couldn’t fit in his pack, far more septimes left in his pouch than he expected and a very confused expression on his face.   
She-of-Depths by contrast cradled several jugs of mead against her chest with a wide grin on her face.   
Stepping up besides him She-of-Depths gently placed her prize on the ground and looked up at Cassius.  
“Cassius Ordo, She-of-Depths is hungry.”   
“Well it probably would be a good idea to eat before we left.” Cassius acceded as he tried to place his burdens down without dropping anything.   
She-of-Depths quickly helped him before handing him several coins and pointing at a building across the square with an open front and a decent crowd milling around it.  
“Here, go to bakery and get venison pie, She-of-Depths will repack bags.”   
Literally shoving him towards the bakery She-of-Depths didn’t give him much choice so Cassius did as he was told.

Arriving at the bakery Cassius simply joined the crowd as there didn’t seem to be any real line.   
After nearly a ten minute wait Cassius found himself at the counter with the kindly looking old lady that all bakeries seem to have looking at him expectantly.  
“I was told to get a venison pie, I hope this is enough.” Cassius said, returning the old woman's kindly smile as he handed the septims over.   
“Oh that’s right you’re the young man with She-of-Depths, what’s your name then?” As the woman spoke she quickly and confidently pocketed the money and grabbed a paddle to lift a large pie off of a warming rack.   
“Cassius, Cassius Ordo. I hired her to escort me back home.” Cassius watched her wrap the pie in cheap cloth, impressed by the speed and dexterity of the action.  
“Did you now? Be sure to take care of her out there, She-of-Depths is well loved here.”  
“Seems like everyone has said something like that to me but she’s meant to be the one taking care of me.” Cassius ran a hand through his hair as he realised what he’d just admitted too not being able to take care of himself in the wilderness.  
The bakery worker just smiled at him again as she handed him the wrapped pie.  
“Then you can take care of each other, how about that?”  
“Yes Ma’am, and thank you.” Cassius replied gratefully before turning and heading back to where She-of-Depths waited for him.

Cassius stopped short of his destination when he spotted She-of-Depths, she had finished repacking the bags, several items tied to the outside rather than placed inside, and was leaning back on her elbows basking in the sun with her eyes closed and head tilted back.   
Cassius found himself staring at her, unable to look away from her colouring, what had seemed like a flat purple in the Winking Skeever was actually a beautiful variation of shades from black around her eyes and mouth to a still dark magenta on her throat with more variations than Cassius could count in between.   
He was pulled from his admiration when she opened her eyes and turned to look at him, with what Cassius was now sure was a smile.   
Taking a deep breath before smiling back at her as he closed the distance Cassius eased down and placed the pie in between them.   
She-of-Depths sat up eagerly as he unwrapped it. Cassius watched curiously as she pulled an oddly shaped knife from her belt, it had a short but wide blade and an incredibly short handle that ended in a wide pommel.   
She-of-Depths noticed his look and grinned at him.  
“Is shaped to be held like this.” She placed the handle between her middle and ring finger and wrapped her fingers around the pommel with the blade sticking out of her fist.   
“Oh, so like a dagger you punch with… a punching dagger?”   
She-of-Depths tilted her head in thought at his words  
“Yes, punching dagger is good name for it.” Grinning at him again She-of-Depths took the knife out of her fist and placed it gently against the top crust of the pie before bringing the heel of palm down on top of it, cracking the pie open and releasing a delicious burst of steam.   
Mouth watering Cassius delved into his pack for spoons as She-of-Depths removed the top crust.   
Handing a spoon to her Cassius quickly spooned up some of the seasoned meat, blowing on it carefully before taking a mouthful.   
They ate silently for a few minutes before Cassius thought to ask a question.  
“She-of-Depths, everyone I’ve talked to has told me to ‘take care of you’ but I hired you to essentially take care of me so why did they say that? If it’s ok for me to ask.”   
The Argonian had looked up expectantly at her name but had looked back down as the topic of his question became apparent, Cassius felt more awkward as he kept talking eventually running his hand through his hair once his question was asked.  
There was several seconds of uncomfortable silence between them until She-of-Depths looked up at him, her bright green eyes catching his.  
“She-of-Depths came to Solitude as hatchling, lived here for many years, she has since been all over Skyrim but always comes back, they care for her here.” She-of-Depths shoveled another spoonful of venison into her mouth making it clear that was all she had to say on the matter.   
While he’d only known her a few hours this was the first time Cassius had seen She-of-Depths anything other than happy or excited.  
“Well I’d better not let them down then, don’t want Bjorn the Paunch coming after me with those great big fists of his.” Cassius desperately hoped his little joke had the desired effect and after several moments of holding his breath he was rewarded with a smile.   
“Should be more worried about Sisters Olfina and Tova, they are the dangerous ones, who you think taught She-of-Depths to use her knives?”  
Cassius chuckled at that but his laughter died when a quick glance over at the sisters in question showed they did have daggers at their belts, dagger with very well worn handles.   
Glancing back at She-of-Depths Cassius found her rapidly digging into his half of the pie.   
“Hey, wait!” Cassius yell went ignored by a laughing She-of-Depths and he had to start taking rapid spoonfuls himself to be sure he got his fill.   
It wasn’t long before they were both laughing, fighting spoon to spoon over the last of the pie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oOoOooOhhh allusions to backstory for our favourite Argonian badass that actually hasn't done anything badass yet. (She will don't worry)   
> I hope you enjoyed and again any suggestions or criticisms please lay them on me, I want you all to enjoy this as much as I do.


	3. Everybody Loves a Well Earned Head Rub

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well boys and girls, all apparently 3 of you. Oh shit just checked again, 5 now, welcome you glorious glorious people.  
> We're currently 3000 words over budget and still haven't gotten too where chapter 2 was supposed to end. 
> 
> On that note I am planning on taking a few days break (can't remember if I mentioned that in the last chapter notes) but I don't think I'll be able to keep away for long.  
> Seems like sexy lizard ladies are my muse and I just didn't know before.  
> Hope you all enjoy.

Standing just inside the gates of Solitude, pack on his shoulders with She-of-Depths waiting expectantly a few steps ahead of him Cassius took a deep breath and stepped forward.  
He was rewarded by a brief smile from She-of-Depths before she turned and set off at a brisk pace.  
Cassius sped up to a jog to catch up, slowing to match her pace as he got beside her.  
“Cassius Ordo is excited, yes? She-of-Depths is always excited at the start of adventure.” She-of-Depths glanced at him as they walked, arms swinging and doing a little skip every few steps.  
“Uhh yeah a little… nervous too though, I had never left the Imperial City before this, I don’t know what to expect.” Cassius ran his hands through his hair as he spoke.  
She-of-Depths gave an amused huff,  
“Will be fine, Cassius Ordo has She-of-Depths to keep him safe.” The confident grin She-of-Depths gave him had Cassius smiling back unconsciously.  
They walked on in silence for nearly half an hour their pace not slowing at all, Cassius was grateful, for the first time of his life, for the years spent as an apprentice in various Imperial City kitchens, pumping bellows and hauling fresh produce and livestock had made him stronger and fitter than would be expected.  
Suddenly She-of-Depths angled sharply left towards the river, Cassius followed more slowly, eventually calling out from the top of the slope leading down,  
“Hey, are we crossing here or…” Cassius trailed off as She-of-Depths simply gestured for him to follow.  
Shrugging Cassius did exactly that, catching up to her as she walked back and forth on the bank looking into the water.  
“So uhh, what’s the plan?” Cassius asked her, staying a few feet back from the water.  
“There is, AH, path used by Stormcloaks when they assaulted Dragons Bridge in the war.” She-of-Depths had swiftly crouched and grabbed at a moss covered chain at her exclamation before finishing her explanation as she hauled it up and over the water.  
Swiftly wrapping it around a thick, if rusted, metal stake embedded in some rocks She-of-Depths looked out over the water again before shucking her pack.  
“She-of-Depths will go across to secure at other end, can Cassius Ordo carry both packs across?” She-of-Depths looked at Cassius slyly, clearly goading him and Cassius was man enough to throw logic and caution to the wind and say  
“Yeah, of course I can.”  
She-of-Depths gurgled, either pleased or amused at his machismo, then she began to undress.  
Cassius was unconcerned as she removed her armour, weapons and boots.  
When she started unbuckling the belt that held her pants, however, he couldn’t help but gawk for a few moment. She had her hands in the waist of her pants about to push them down by the time he dragged his eyes away and spun swiftly on his heel almost stumbling from the weight of his pack with his face flushing hotly.  
The sounds of undressing continued behind him for a moment,  
“Cassius Ordo can look if he wants, She-of-Depths does not mind.” Her Argonian rasp had a distinct teasing tone about it, easily distinguishable from any species.  
“I… that’s… I don’t, I mean I do but…” Cassius didn’t think he could blush harder but he was swiftly proved wrong when a purple hand grabbed his arm and pulled gently, bidding him to turn around.  
Breathing deeply Cassius turned around slowly to see She-of-Depths wearing only her leather vest and simple underwear.  
Cassius couldn’t help but stare, his gaze roaming down from her shoulders to the opening of her vest where the barest shadow of cleavage taunted him, down further to where her waist widened to meet her hips, the powerful muscles of her thighs flexed as she shifted, immediately capturing his stare, a small part of Cassius noted the inside of her thighs were the lightest part of her skin while the vast majority of his brain power was dedicated to just drinking her in.  
She-of-Depths made her pleased purr gurgle, enjoying Cassius’ gawking. She moved her hands to the ties of her vest causing Cassius’ eyes to shoot upwards so fast he overshot and ended up looking into her eyes as she gazed steadily back and began to undo the knots.  
The last knot was soon undone and as She-of-Depths grabbed the two sides of her vest Cassius’ stare slid down uncontrollably.  
Peeling her vest off slowly She-of-Depths arched her back, pushing her chest out and flexing her abdominal muscles.  
Cassius didn’t know where to look first, his eyes darting from the swell of her breasts to where her abs pushed against her scales, the ridges clearly visible in the mid afternoon sunlight, to her thighs and back again.  
She-of-Depths allowed him to stare for nearly a minute before she swiftly grabbed her pack and shoved it at Cassius. Snapping out of his reverie Cassius obediently stuck his arms through the straps, ending up with the heavy pack hanging awkwardly but stably off his chest.  
He briefly got lost again when She-of-Depths bent over to grab her kit, glad for the bulky pack for hiding his steadily growing erection.  
She-of-Depths returned to him, unceremoniously shoving her boots and armour plates into whatever space she could find.  
She then bundled the softer parts of her kit into a loose roll and roughly tied it together with a belt, with a sudden wicked smirk she shoved the bundle under his chin, lodging it firmly between him and her pack.  
“Keep that safe, She-of-Depths will be angry if Cassis Ordo loses her clothes.” With a final cackle she took two running steps into the shallows before diving smoothly into the deeper water of the river.  
Cassius watched the shadow of her under the water trying desperately to ignore the smell of her coming from her clothes.  
Swimming hard against the current She-of-Depths rose from under the water to grab the chain, pulling herself along she made good time to the other bank.  
Reaching the shallows she stood up and hauled the chain up with her, quickly following it back to its other end and securing it around what Cassius assumed was another hidden stake.  
After a gesture for him to come over Cassius approached the water's edge. From this close he could see a line of stones along the bottom of the river, stacked high in the deeper waters.  
Taking a deep breath he gripped the chain firmly and stepped carefully onto the first stone.  
The first few stones were easy but as the water got deeper they sat further and further from the surface causing each long step into the powerful current to get more difficult.  
A quarter of the way across with his shoulders already burning, Cassius looked up to see She-of-Depths standing in the shallows watching him.  
Deciding to take whatever motivation he could Cassius started looking back at her after every successful step.  
Half-way across it was more than just his shoulders, his legs ached, burned and stung in equal measure as his muscles worked hard while the icy cold water was now halfway up his thighs.  
Grunting and groaning he forced his body to keep pushing forward thoroughly regretting his need to prove his strength to his Argonian companion.  
He was almost out of the current’s pull when his strength finally failed him completely, his right knee buckled almost dropping him into the water, only his frantic grip on the chain keeping him from being swept away. Frantically tucking his chin hard against the bundle of clothes stuffed there, he pulled hard against the chain and managed to right himself, leaning heavily against the chain he was panting hard as he looked up to see She-of-Depths standing right at the edge of the shallows, a hand held out to him.  
Gathering the last of his energy Cassius stepped to the last stone and without pause reached desperately for her hand as his legs gave out again.  
She grasped his forearm and pulled him out of danger, falling backwards as Cassius collapsed to his knees in the shadows, his entire body shaking from exhaustion.  
Climbing to her feet She-of-Depths gently took her pack from him, quickly grabbing her bundled clothes as they fell.  
Hauling it out of the shallows she quickly returned to remove his, catching him as he fell forward from the sudden balance change his body was too tired to adapt to.  
Holding his pack under one arm She-of-Depths let him rest his head against her belly, gently running her hands through his hair as she had seen him do several times but still didn’t understand why. Eventually he had recovered enough to lift his head,  
“I’m sorry.” Cassius’ voice was thick with exhaustion and shame.  
Her hand still in his hair, fingers massaging his scalp She-of-Depths tsked at him  
“Cassius Ordo should not be sorry, he did so very well.”  
Cassius just let his head fall back against her stomach and tried to stop his arms from shaking.  
She-of-Depths stayed with him for a few minutes before she pulled her hand from his hair and pulled at his shoulder.  
“Come, we must get out of the water.”  
Groaning tiredly, Cassius was pulled to his feet, leaning heavily on She-of-Depths he managed to make it to dry land where She-of-Depths laid him gently on the ground.  
Moaning at how good it felt to just lay there Cassius would have happily fallen asleep right on the ground but he was soon interrupted by a now dressed She-of-Depths pulling him firmly into a sitting position.  
“Cassius Ordo must move or it will be worse tomorrow, come, She-of-Depths will help.”  
Moving was the last thing Cassius wanted to do but he was pulled to his feet anyway, a water skin and thick slice of bread shoved into his hands.  
Starting at a very slow walk they began to do circles around their packs with Cassius taking small bits of bread and sips of water under She-of-Depths direction.  
Soon enough he was able to walk on his own allowing She-of-Depths to clear away the bread and other things she’d pulled out of the packs to get to it. She looked at Cassius still chewing slowly on the last of his bread, she spoke,  
“If Cassius Ordo needs we can camp here tonight.”  
Cassius shook his head, a tired grin on his face,  
“No no I can keep going, just need a bit more rest… besides I’m still cooking you mud crab tonight and I don’t see any mud crabs around here.”  
She-of-Depths just about squealed with delight and the sun hadn’t sunk much lower before Cassius had pulled his pack on and they set off east, although at a much slower pace than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey the lewd has begun. ;)  
> Nothing crazy for now but I hope you enjoyed the teaser, still a few nights until we get to proper smut and at the rate I'm going I don't even wanna guess how many chapters that will be, will try my damnedest to make it worth the wait.  
> Peace.


	4. Mud Crabs Taste Better With Garlic and Butter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ho and off we go to a chapter where they actually get some travelling done. Now I'm gonna be vague about how far they get each day and stuff cause like, does that really matter?  
> In an unrelated note there is a cooking scene in this chapter, I'd like it to be known I'm not a chef, or even a decent cook, like I can make stew and soup, if you're just chucking stuff in a pot and then boiling it to mush then I'm there but anything else and I am not your man so if anyone cares about the many things that are wrong with it just uhh, pretend Cassius is doing it right.  
> Enjoy.

Cassius trudged along wearily, looking gratefully at the lengthening shadows over the marsh signalling the approach of evening.  
He turned to ask She-of-Depths when they should think of stopping only to find the Argonian completely gone.  
Cassius searched around frantically, spinning in place several times before he finally saw She-of-Depths slowly creep out of the shadows of a rocky overhang.  
Briefly distracted by the sight of her tail swinging gently back and forth with each crouched step, it took Cassius several seconds to spot what she was creeping towards.  
On the banks of one of the marshes many waterways three mudcrabs scuttled around occasionally snapping their claws into the water.  
Cassius watched as She-of-Depths crept within a few feet of the oblivious crabs, from one completely silent step to the next she suddenly leapt forward, reaching over the largest of the crabs She-of-Depths slammed a dagger into its face just under the shell, killing it instantly.  
With barely a pause she then jumped lithely over its corpse to slam her shorter punch dagger through the shell of the smallest crab there before it had done more than turn to face her.  
A quick forward roll took her out of danger as the last mud crab snapped its large claws at the air where she had been. Standing fully She-of-Depths waited briefly for the crab to approach her before swiftly kicking it under its mouth, flipping the aggressive beast onto its back. Before it could do anything other than flail wildly she stabbed her long dagger through the softer shell on its underbelly.  
Cassius released the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding as She-of-Depths dispatched the last of the ornery crabs, it didn’t take her long to butcher them and she was soon jogging back to Cassius with a bundle of crab legs and claws as well as several chunks of raw flesh.  
“She-of-Depths did not forget Cassius Ordo’s promise.” she grinned widely, immensely pleased with herself.  
Cassius couldn’t help but grin back as he took the bundles from her to tie to his pack as she jogged back to hers several paces back.  
“Well we’ll need to stop soon if I’m going to have enough time to prepare all this.” Cassius said as she returned.  
She-of-Depths nodded firmly and pointed at a nearby hillock,  
“Is small dip up there, good for hiding fire and enough space for us.”  
Cassius looked at the slope with dread for his already fatigued body but shrugged and started his way towards it.

Unsurprisingly Cassius took a bit longer than She-of-Depths to get to the top. Once there however, he found, at least to his untrained eyes, a perfect camping spot.  
“How did you find this place?” He wondered aloud.  
“She-of-Depths first adventure!” the excited yell came from the other end of the hillock where She-of-Depths was uncovering a stash of dry wood.  
“She wanted mud crab for dinner but had no money to buy, snuck out to the marsh, was there too long and found this place to sleep. Her mother was very angry when she went home.” She-of-Depths excited ramble slowed down suddenly at the mention of her mother.  
Cassius decided not to take the opportunity to pry and instead sought to shift the subject back to what had so far never failed to bring the animation back to She-of-Depths.  
“So, you really like mud crab then?” even as the word came out Cassius cringed but it did succeed at making She-of-Depths smile at him,  
“Is She-of-Depths favourite.”  
“Well I’ll try my best not to disappoint y-her.” Cassius glanced at the position of the sun as he spoke and realised he’d have to hurry if he wanted to get the food done before it got dark.  
Shucking his pack quickly he pulled it open to haul out everything he’d need while She-of-Depths started a fire with the ease of long practice.  
Rolling out his knives Cassius got to work, it wasn’t long before the legs were in a pot of boiling water and he was working on the garlic butter.  
She-of-Depths had finished setting up the camp and was now watching him curiously.  
“Cassius Ordo is very skilled with his knives.” She commented after watching him crack open a crab claw and expertly remove and then slice up the meat.  
Cassius smiled at the praise but kept working without pause,  
“Not as good as you are with those daggers, you took these crabs out like it was nothing.”  
She-of-Depths pleased gurgle sounded above the crackle of the fire.  
Hooking a pan next to the boiling pot, Cassius plopped some of the garlic butter mixture into before adding the crab chunks that were coated in the same substance in.  
Conscious of the fading light Cassius checked the legs, sliced some bread and cheese and stirred the crab in the pan in rapid succession, he’d been told he worked best under pressure and he was proving it now.  
Pulling the pot off the fire, he pulled the legs from the water and sliced them open quickly, the steam that burst out of them came with a delicious smell and She-of-Depths reached eagerly for the first few he placed on a plate.  
“Not yet.” Cassius pushed her hand away and she stuck her tongue out at him in the Argonian equivalent of a petulant pout.  
Placing the last of the garlic butter into the pan, Cassius stirred it around until it melted, pulle the pan from the fire and tilted it to pour the melted butter over the steaming legs, keeping the meat in the pan with his wooden spoon.  
After thoroughly covering the legs on both plates he split the meat up evenly and placed the cheese and bread alongside.  
She-of-Depths was leaning forward eagerly but looked at Cassius before she grabbed her plate,  
“She-of-Depths can eat now?”  
At Cassius’ tired nod, she snatched her plate and immediately started eating.  
Her happy little squeal had Cassius smiling even as he wiped the last of the sweat off his forehead and reached for his own plate.  
Cassius took his own plate much more calmly and when he took a bite he winced, he’d slightly overdone the garlic, but given the sounds coming from next to him he didn’t think She-of-Depths cared.  
Looking over at her Cassius was unable to form a coherent thought as she chased the last of the meat from a crab leg with her tongue, her tongue that was far longer and more flexible than even any other Argonians he had known.  
His mind immediately brought up the memories of earlier that day when she’d stripped down to swim across the river and he couldn’t help but imagine what else she could do with that tongue.  
Imaginings that were cut horribly short when she managed to flick the last morsel out of the crab leg and snapped her mouth shut around it with an audible snick. 

A few minutes later, they had finished eating and She-of-Depths was lounging and gurgling continuously, pausing only to sip from her tankard of mead.  
“So She-of-Depths enjoyed it then?” Cassius asked her with a chuckle while he cleaned the dishes.  
Stretching luxuriously She-of-Depths looked over at him and her gurgling kicked up a notch.  
“Was best meal She-of-Depths has ever eaten.”  
“I’m glad, I can teach you what I did if you want, so you can make it again.” Cassius offered, always happy to teach the only skill of his he was proud of.  
She-of-Depths stopped gurgling, quickly downing the last of her mead she stood up and walked over to Cassius before crouching down to his level.  
“Cassius Ordo will teach She-of-Depths how to cook like him and She-of-Depths will teach Cassius Ordo how to use daggers like her?”  
Cassius smiled broadly at her question.  
“That sounds good to me-Cassius Ordo.”  
She-of-Depths gave him a soft gurgle and ran a hand through his hair a few times before heading back to her empty tankard and refilling it, soon returning to her previous posture.  
Cassius released the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in a rush.  
He was beginning to enjoy the sound of her pleased gurgling and he already knew he really liked people running their hands through his hair, the combination was extremely nice. 

Later that night, laying on his bedroll, staring up at the stars with the fire burning low but still hot enough to warm him, Cassius looked over at She-of-Depths, already deep in sleep, her horns that curled out the back of skull tucked around the arm her head rested on.  
“Maybe this adventuring isn’t all bad.” He murmured to himself.  
The muscles in his arm and back protested painfully as he lifted himself up to pull his blanket up over his chest.  
It certainly wasn’t all good either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuckin I wish I had more hair so people could run their hands through it.  
> Anyway I hope y'all enjoyed, again please throw any criticism you have at me, I know one of my big worries is moving the friendship/relationship/lustship? along too quickly but like, I don't really know how to slow it down without it being jarring.  
> Anyway I hope you have a good day... and if it's evening when you're reading this you better have a damn fine day tomorrow you understand? Good.


	5. Teasing Makes Everything Harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello everyone, this chapter is a bit late because it kicked my fucking ass, roughly 18 hours of writing, over 2 major sessions, with breaks don't worry, and ughh it was hard.   
> It wasn't writers block, I was never struggling to find words to write I just could not focus.   
> ANYWAY  
> Chapter is a long one today so I hope that makes up for it but I'm gonna say this now, speed of updates is probably gonna slow right down, we'll see what happens but I just wanna be real with you all.   
> Hope you all enjoy.

The first thing Cassius felt when he woke was every single muscle in his body complaining at him. With his eyes still closed, he tried not to groan.   
The second thing was a warm weight on his lower body and something breathing on his face.  
Eyes snapping open, Cassius couldn’t help the terrified squeak that escaped him as he looked up into a maw full of sharp teeth while a pair of bright green eyes stared down at him.   
“She-of-Depths is hungry.” She-of-Depths grinned at him as she spoke.  
Cassius released a shaky sigh as his still sleepy brain realised the situation,  
“Hnghmph, get the fire going again, I know what to do.”   
She-of-Depths gurgled happily as she rolled off of him to do as asked.   
Closing his eyes and relaxing back Cassius took a few moments to collect himself before heaving himself to a sitting position with a pained groan.  
Looking over he saw She-of-Depths swiftly clearing away the ash from the night before, uncovering some still smouldering coals.   
After standing up carefully Cassius began to stretch, trying to ease some of his aching muscles while She-of-Depths got a small blaze going.   
The fire had been going for several minutes by the time Cassius set to work. he’d pulled out the bread and cheese before he realised She-of-Depths was watching him steadily from across the fire.  
“I’m supposed to be teaching you this aren’t I?” Cassius asked with an embarrassed chuckle.  
She-of-Depths nodded once, a look of intense concentration on her face,   
“She-of-Depths is watching.”   
“I’m uhh, I’m about to put the pan over the fire so you should come a bit closer if you wanna see.” Cassius ran his hands through his hair as he spoke.  
She-of-Depths just smiled at him and stood to circle around the fire to where Cassius sat cross legged on the ground.   
Cassius was confused when she stopped right behind him, but when she crouched down to press herself against his back his face flushed hotly.  
“Is She-of-Depths close enough now Cassius Ordo?” Her question was practically purred into his ear and Cassius had to take a deep breath before answering,  
“Yeah...that-that’ll be fine.”   
She-of-Depths gurgled pleasantly into his ear as she allowed more of her weight onto Cassius' back and rested her chin on his shoulder to watch him work.  
Ignoring his protesting back muscles Cassius began to cut the bread into thin slices as he explained what they were going to make, gradually relaxing as he got into explaining his craft,  
“So... We’re gonna umm, well we had bread and cheese last night but if you fry the bread with the cheese inside two slices it takes on a new flavour.”   
She-of-Depths watched in silence apart from an annoyed huff when Cassius had to get up to set the pan above the fire. When he returned to his position she pressed herself against him even more thoroughly than last time, her thighs pressed up just beneath his ribs and her hands resting on the outside curve of his ribs with her upper body sitting snugly against his back and her chin on his other shoulder now.   
Cassius’ blush, which had receded while he had focused on preparing their breakfast, returned full force.  
To both his relief and regret it wasn’t long before he had to start actually cooking and She-of-Depths couldn’t lean against him anymore.   
She didn’t go far though, leaning back against an arm close enough to Cassius that he could still smell her, although that was quickly covered by the mouthwatering aroma of toasting bread and melting cheese.  
A few minutes later Cassius pulled the perfectly toasted sandwich out of the pan and onto a plate before presenting it to She-of-Depths with a smile.  
She picked it up curiously, tilting her head before taking a bite.   
Her pleased grin as she chewed had Cassius sighing in relief. She-of-Depths finished her sandwich quickly, licking her lips in satisfaction.  
“She-of-Depths enjoyed that, but Cassius Ordo has not eaten.” She looked from Cassius to the already prepared but uncooked sandwich.  
“Well, people learn best by doing so I thought you could cook mine, don’t worry, just copy what I did and it’ll turn out fine.” Cassius gave her a gentle smile as for the first time he’d seen She-of-Depths looked nervous,  
“She-of-Depths will try.”   
After swapping positions She-of-Depths carefully grabbed the sandwich with both hands, when she looked back at Cassius he just smiled and nodded at the pan.   
She-of-Depths raised herself up higher and leaned over the pan to place the sandwich right in the middle.  
When she sat back she rolled her shoulders several times before looking at Cassius again.  
Remembering his own early cooking, Cassius spoke up,   
“That’s good, now ideally you’ll want to cook it evenly on both sides but it’s not a big deal if you don’t, just keep an eye on it and when you think it’s time flip it over and we’ll go from there.”   
She-of-Depths gave a single nod before turning to stare intently at the pan, Cassius had to bite his lip to stop himself from making a noise at how cute he found her behaviour.   
When She-of-Depths reached to flip the sandwich Cassius sat forward to watch her more closely.  
“Remember, grab it and flip quickly, if you go too slowly it’ll just fall apart.”   
She-of-Depths, who had paused as Cassius spoke, nodded before grabbing the sandwich and flipping it in a single unsmooth motion, the top slice slipped partially off and She-of-Depths squawked in distress.   
“Oh, no that’s easy to fix, let me just- there we go.” Cassius used a knife to pull the slice back to roughly even as he spoke.  
“She-of-Depths is sorry. She isn’t very good at this.” The Argonian was looking at the ground in front of her and fiddling with her fingers,  
“You don’t need to be sorry, She-of-Depths. Honestly I would have been more surprised if you’d managed to do that perfectly your first try.” Cassius rushed to reassure her, although he wouldn’t mind seeing more of his so far extremely capable and confident companion being nervous and shy.  
She-of-Depths smiled slightly but remained downcast, she did still dutifully keep an eye on the food and it wasn’t long before she was handing Cassius his plate.  
It didn’t look too bad and he was hungry so Cassius eagerly took a bite under She-of-Depths hopeful gaze.   
One side was burnt but the cheese was melted and it was far from the worst he’d ever had and the warmth was welcome in the morning chill.  
“It’s good.” Cassius replied to She-of-Depths’ questioning look,  
“Cassius Ordo is not lying to make She-of-Depths feel better?” Despite her words She-of-Depths smiled slightly.  
“I’m being serious, honestly this is much better than my first attempt.” Cassius decided not to mention that he had been eight years old at the time and it had been an unsanctioned midnight raid into his family’s kitchen with his sister, Carina.  
She-of-Depths’ smile grew quickly and she sat at ease while he ate.  
A quick clean up later and they were on their way.

After a few hours they found a road that She-of-Depths said would lead them to the city of Morthal, by this time Cassius’ muscles had stretched and warmed up and he was able to keep up with She-of-Depths’ energetic pace.   
After a quick stop for lunch they continued on, by early afternoon Cassius had begun to ache again, his shoulders, back and legs not used to such constant exertion.  
Managing to push through for a few more hours, Cassius was extremely grateful when She-of-Depths pulled him off the road to set up camp against a fallen tree. 

Shrugging his pack off, Cassius leant against the tree with a heavy sigh. He groaned as he lifted an arm to rub at his aching shoulders.   
She-of-Depths chuckled as she crouched in front of him,  
“Cassius Ordo will get used to it. She-of-Depths must go hunting now, can Cassius Ordo set up camp and gather firewood for us?”   
“Yeah, I should be able to, small sticks, big sticks… something for tinder, simple enough.”   
She-of-Depths smiled at him and ran a hand through his hair several times before standing.   
Cassius watched her leave before getting to his feet and started setting up the camp as best he could.   
Almost an hour later he’d laid out their bedrolls, set up the cooking station and gathered a decent pile of wood, he’d even managed to find some dry moss that he hoped made decent tinder.   
He had just sat down against the log again when She-of-Depths came around the log herself with an entire deer over her shoulders.  
Cassius blinked in disbelief a few times before rushing to help her.   
“How... What… an entire deer?” Cassius managed to get out after the animal was on the ground.  
She-of-Depths grinned at him, panting slightly from the effort of carrying the deer.  
“She-of-Depths likes venison too.”   
Cassius couldn’t help but laugh,   
“Well let’s get this thing cut up, I can butcher pigs, cows and sheep but I’ve never dealt with a deer before, how do we do this?”   
She-of-Depths grinned and moved over to her pack to pull out a long extremely sharp looking knife.   
Between the two of them a nice chunk of venison was soon roasting over the fire.   
Cassius had rubbed it down with salt and made small slits to fill with herbs.   
It was simple but She-of-Depths still seemed impressed and ate even more than Cassius did.   
Just before they went to bed She-of-Depths turned to Cassius,  
“Tomorrow we will stop early and She-of-Depths will teach Cassius how to use his dagger, if he wants to.”   
Cassius thought about it for a few moments,   
“Sounds good to me, I can get home whenever so we can take out time.”   
She-of-Depths gurgled and stretched before bundling herself in her blankets,  
“Sleep well Cassius Ordo.”   
Cassius could only see her eyes from where she lay in the shadows but he smiled back anyway,   
“Sleep well She-of-Depths.” 

An hour later, Cassius was still awake, huffing in annoyance he tried to pull his blanket further up his chest and only succeeded in exposing his feet to the cold night air, the flat terrain did nothing to stop the wind that came off the coast.   
Groaning in annoyance, Cassius sat up to pull his blanket over his feet, he was still fiddling with it when a rasping voice spoke from the darkness,   
“Cassius Ordo is too loud.”   
Head snapping up, Cassius jumped when he saw She-of-Depths crouched right in front of him.   
“Uhh, sorry, I just can’t sleep because of the cold.” Cassius blushed hard and ran both hands through his hair.  
She-of-Depths tilted her head as she looked at him before she stood and gestured towards him,   
“Get up, bring bedroll.”   
Confused but trusting in her far more extensive adventuring experience, Cassius did as he was told, carrying his bedroll over to where She-of-Depths had hers.   
The Argonian took Cassius’ bedroll out of his hands and laid it on top of hers, stacking the pillows in a similar fashion.   
“Lay down.” She-of-Depths commanded curtly  
Cassius did as told but as he looked up at her more confused than ever he began to ask a question,  
“Ok, but where are you going to-” Cassius was cut off as She-of-Depths dropped down to lay face down on top of him, her head to his chest Cassius had to tilt his head up to keep watching as She-of-Depths pulled both blankets over them.  
“Oh.” Cassius ended lamely once they’d been covered with the blankets.  
“Does Cassius Ordo not like this?” She-of-Depths asked, looking up at him.  
Dropping his head back onto the pillows, Cassius took a deep breath before replying,   
“No, no, this is… good, this is good.” She-of-Depths gurgled at him before grabbing his left hand and pulling it up to place it on her hip, she huffed in amusement at Cassius’ sharp intake of breath at the action.   
Her other hand began to rub up and down his upper arm, gently pressing into the muscles there.  
Cassius took a shaky breath and began to move the hand on her hip up and across her back, suddenly his hand was held in a tight grip. Pulling his head up again, Cassius looked at She-of-Depths to see her glaring at him, Cassius slowly eased his hand back to her hip and She-of-Depths released his hand.   
“Sorry.” Cassius spoke softly, he didn’t know exactly what he’d done wrong but apologising seemed appropriate.   
She-of-Depths didn’t say anything but the hand that was rubbing his bicep moved up and into his hair, stopping there and gently massaging his scalp.   
Cassius tried to ignore his body's growing reaction to the situation, tried to ignore her warmth, the distinct feeling of her breasts pressing into his sternum, the way her feet would idly rub against his calves and most importantly he tried to ignore the way her crotch pressed firmly into his.   
He would have run a hand through his hair if her hand wasn’t there, instead he pressed his free hand against the side of her ribs.   
Sighing deeply She-of-Depths wiggled slightly, seeming to try and get even closer and lifted her right hand to place it on his shoulder, her forearm pressed against his upper arm.   
The wiggle had completely unraveled Cassius and it was mere moments till he was fully hard beneath her, he knew she could feel it because he could feel it press against her, flexing without his control in his body’s desperate attempt to feel more.  
Cassius was about to start apologising as eloquently as he could but as he opened his mouth he was interrupted by a loud gurgle and She-of-Depths grinding herself against him.   
Cassius groaned deeply at the feeling and She-of-Depths huffed in amusement before stopping suddenly and speaking,   
“Sleep now Cassius Ordo.”   
Cassius could have sobbed at the sudden and powerful frustration but managed to hold it back by sinking his teeth into his bottom lip not quite hard enough to bleed. 

Cassius stayed awake for a while longer, thinking about the purple mystery currently sleeping on top of him but the warmth of her body and gentle rhythm of her breathing eventually lulled him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funnily enough despite my brain being fried and that it was 1 am at the time that last scene was the easiest to write of all of them.   
> I hope you all enjoy the tease as much as Cassius didn't but hopefully it won't be long till that smut tag isn't a lie. *hint hint*   
> Peace.


	6. Rain Bad, Cuddles Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here boys, ladies and anyone else.   
> Sorry it took so long but the smut has finally arrived. This is my first time ever writing smut so I hope it turned out ok.  
> With that especially any criticism/advice would be most welcome.  
> Also for the at least one person who cares about the cuteness and the romance, don't worry it isn't going to just be smut all day every day from here on out.  
> Final note, the "making stuff up about Argonian biology" tag comes into play here so uhh, be warned I guess?  
> Hope you enjoy.

Cassius awoke before She-of-Depths, mainly thanks to the fat drop of rain that fell directly onto his face.  
Startled awake, Cassius jerked up but paused just as quickly when the Argonian sleeping on top of him murmured in her sleep and pressed the side of her face into his shoulder.  
Cassius wasn’t sure when she’d moved higher up his body but he wasn’t about to complain, laying his head back on the pillows and closing his eyes, Cassius placed a hand on She-of-Depths’ shoulder and lightly traced the ridges of her scales with a finger.  
That was until another raindrop hit him in the neck and he remembered why he’d woken up in the first place.  
Sighing, Cassius opened his eyes and used the hand on She-of-Depths’ shoulder to shake her awake.  
It didn’t take much to wake her, her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself into a crouch, a dagger raised ready to stab as she looked around quickly, her other hand pressing onto Cassius’ chest to keep him down..  
Failing to find anything, She-of-Depths looked down at Cassius in annoyance.  
“Why did Cassius Ordo wake She-of-Depths?”  
Cassius pointed to the sky,  
“It’s about to rain.”  
She-of-Depths looked up to see black roiling clouds, she hissed angrily and dropped back into a sitting position.  
“Today will be a long day, Cassius Ordo has cloak? The rain will be cold.” She-of-Depths idly stroked Cassius’ chest as she spoke.  
Cassius pushed himself up to rest on his elbows,  
“Yes I do, it’s a light one though.”  
She-of-Depths sighed and moved to get off of him,  
“Cassius Ordo will be cold then.”  
Cassius sighed and ran a hand through his hair before heaving himself up to help pack up camp.

The rain arrived only a few minutes after they started walking, Cassius had been unable to look away, awestruck as a wall of water and sound rushed towards them.  
Once it hit there was no awe, only misery.  
It had been a few hours since then and Cassius’ misery had only increased, all of his clothes were soaked through, he only kept his cloak on because it lessened the sting of the rain, his boots were filled with water and his hands were numb and shaking from the cold.  
Despite this he kept trudging along, determined to keep up with the blurry figure of She-of-Depths in front of him.  
With his thoughts running slow from the cold, Cassius didn’t notice the boxy shape of a wagon slowly emerging out of the rain induced gloom until he was only about thirty yards from it.  
Cassius would have jumped for joy if he’d been able to properly feel his feet, instead he kept walking, a new purpose in his steps, surely whoever’s wagon this was would let them ride in the back, the wagon didn’t seem that big, perhaps he and She-of-Depths would have to cuddle close to fit.  
These hopeful thoughts ground to a sudden halt when She-of-Depths shoved her pack into his arms and held a finger to her mouth in the universal symbol to keep quiet.  
Cassius watched her in a daze as she drew her daggers and began to cautiously circle around the wagon as it sat unmoving.  
Cassius shifted the way he was carrying her pack to free a hand. Rubbing his eyes roughly he managed to lift his mind out of the fog it had sunk into, at least a little, and looked over the scene with a bit more focus.  
The reason for the wagon's unmoving state was obvious, the horse was dead, still tangled in its harness, its guts splayed over a disturbingly wide area.  
Cassius’ heart kicked in his chest and then began a frantic rhythm as Cassius realised why She-of-Depths was being so cautious, this wagon had been attacked, whether by beasts or bandits Cassius didn’t know but he crouched down instinctively, the cold temporarily forgotten.  
He watched She-of-Depths approach the wagon in a low crouch, her daggers held out wide and her tail swinging for balance.  
Once she was amongst the wagon it did not take She-of-Depths long to check it for anything hostile. Standing fully upright on the other side of the wagon to Cassius she yelled,  
“Cassius Ordo can come, it is… safe.”  
Cassius stood stiffly and approached the wagon, his heart still thundering in his chest. Circling around it he spotted She-of-Depths standing over a woman's body.  
“What… who… what happened to her?” Cassius managed to sputter out.  
“Bandits, wagon is empty, spokes are broken. Only bandits would loot and break things for no reason.” She-of-Depths spoke calmly but Cassius could see how she gripped the handles of her daggers.  
Cassius looked down, intending to offer a prayer to the eight Divines when he saw the red corner of a book peeking out from under the woman.  
Crouching down, he put down She-of-Depths’ pack and pulled out the book as gently as possible, trying not to disturb the corpse of the woman. Holding it under the wagon to protect it from the rain as best he could, Cassius opened it.  
Most of the pages were ruined by water but roughly in the middle of the book some pages were still legible. It didn’t take Cassius long to realise it was a diary but he couldn’t bring himself to stop reading. The book spoke of the woman's worry for her husband's safety during these trips and her insistence that she would travel with him this time so that if he died she would die with him, it was dated only two days ago.  
Dropping the diary from his shaking hands Cassius rushed to his feet and hurried to the front of the wagon, when he saw the corpse of a man slumped along the seat Cassius fell to his knees.  
The misery of the day overwhelming him, Cassius grabbed at the side of his head and cried out wordlessly. The rain, the cold, the pain, the scene of brutal violence they’d stumbled on they all piled on top of him until he couldn’t do anything.  
He only realised he was crying when the first wracking sob went through him.  
Several more sobs tore through him before the familiar feeling of someone running their hands through his hair helped him slowly calm down.  
Several minutes later the last few soft sobs went through him and Cassius felt in control enough to look up at She-of-Depths,  
“They, fuck, they were married and she didn’t want him to go alone and… fuck.” Cassius struggled to put his whirlwind thoughts into words as the cold of the day pressed into him again and he began to shiver.  
“Skyrim is a harsh place Cassius Ordo. Come, we will put them to rest and then we must find shelter… we are done for today.” She-of-Depths kept running her hands through his hair as she spoke and ended it by tugging the hood of his cloak back up.  
Cassius nodded tiredly and let She-of-Depths help him up. Once he was on his feet She-of-Depths spoke again,  
“We cannot bury them, not now, but we can put them together at least.”  
Cassius followed her silently, the thoughts whirling around in his head sinking back into the fog his mind had been in for most of the day.  
With numb hands Cassius crouched down with She-of-Depths to lift the woman off the ground. Holding her legs together in front of him, Cassius barely managed to lift his arms high enough to help heft her into the back of the wagon.  
His shaking had returned full force by the time they were done, so much so he could barely haul himself up to the driver's seat of the wagon to help with the man slain there.  
She-of-Depths did most of the work, climbing over into the back of the wagon she pulled the bulk of the man's corpse over while Cassius just lifted his legs over.  
Once the couple were laying next to each other as neatly as She-of-Depths could make them, Cassius slowly climbed down from the seat of the wagon and walked around to join She-of-Depths at the back.  
Bowing his head Cassius tried to dredge up the few prayers he’d learned as a child.  
Muttering all he could remember of prayer to Arkay, Cassius followed it up with a general plea to all the divines to help these people reach the afterlife.  
A touch to his arm had Cassius looking around to see She-of-Depths looking at him,  
“Can Cassius Ordo walk?” Her voice was soft and at Cassius’ dumb nod her hand slid down his arm to grasp his hand.  
She-of-Depths headed off road, pulling Cassius along behind her.  
Cassius followed along willingly, only vaguely aware of everything but how warm her hand was in his.

It didn’t take She-of-Depths long to find something, it was just a rock overhang but when she’d pulled off Cassius’ cloak and hung it off the edge by daggers she’d stuck into the ground, it kept most of the wind and rain off.  
Cassius crawled into their makeshift shelter as it was being constructed, removing his pack and placing it on the ground next to him he sat there shivering while She-of-Depths followed him in shortly after.  
A quick look around showed there wasn’t enough space for her pack and her, She-of-Depths looked at Cassius steadily.  
Cassius took a few seconds to realise the problem, his mind still sluggish, though without another thought he opened his arms to her.  
She-of-Depths took the invitation eagerly, dumping her pack in the open space and crawling onto Cassius’ lap, chest to chest She-of-Depths placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed herself into the shivering Cassius.  
For his part Cassius put one hand against the Argonian’s ribs while the other came to rest on her thigh and just thoroughly enjoyed her warmth.  
They stayed like this for quite a while, recovering as best they could in wet clothes.  
Cassius’ mind started working better and better as his body slowly heated up. It wasn’t long before his thoughts drifted back to the dead couple they’d found on the road, he knew his parents had met when his father had been plying his trade up here and he couldn’t help but think how easy it would have been for the same thing to happen to his parents.  
With his emotions still running high from the struggle of the day, Cassius felt a few hot tears in his eyes and angrily rubbed them away with his hand, aware enough to be ashamed of crying again.  
“What is wrong?” She-of-Depths had leaned herself back slightly to look him in the eye.  
“Nothing, sorry, just… thinking. A bit embarrassed to be crying again.” Cassius replied sheepishly, not sure how much to share.  
“It is ok to cry, today has been a hard day.” She-of-Depths ran a hand through Cassius’ hair again and he sighed and leant into it, closing his eyes without thinking.  
“You’re not crying though.” Cassius flushed slightly when he realised he’d spoken aloud.  
“Argonians cannot cry Cassius Ordo, but trust She-of-Depths when she says today has been bad for her too.” She-of-Depths kept combing her fingers through his hair as she spoke and Cassius unconsciously tilted his head forward to give her better access.  
When She-of-Depths moved her free hand onto Cassius chest to press against the muscles there, Cassius felt emboldened enough to start moving his own hands, his left hand running up and down her thigh, gently massaging the firm muscles there, while the thumb of his other hand traced over her ribs.  
Cassius heard She-of-Depths breath quicken when he let his left hand slide further onto her inner thigh, the pace of his own breathing was quick to follow when She-of-Depths’ hand slid down his torso to rest just above his waist.  
“She-of-Depths wants to feel good, does Cassius Ordo want to feel good too?” She-of-Depths paused her movements as she spoke and Cassius followed suit after just a moment.  
Everything went very still as Cassius realised exactly what she was asking,  
“Yes.” Cassius breathed the word out, his voice filled with sudden, desperate need.  
She-of-Depths pressed her muzzle into Cassius’ neck within moments of his consent, her long tongue sliding out to taste the skin there.  
Cassius’ back arched at the move, his left hand quickly slid up her thigh to grip her rump, when he gave it a firm squeeze She-of-Depths gurgled against his neck.  
Not entirely believing what was happening but determined to make the most of it, Cassius’ other hand grabbed onto She-of-Depths’ thigh as she ground herself against him.  
When her hand slid the last few inches onto his crotch Cassius couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped him.  
She-of-Depths pulled away from his neck to grapple with his belt and Cassius couldn’t help but mirror her previous actions, diving forward he pressed his mouth to her neck, when he slid his tongue along the skin just above She-of-Depths’ collar bone, he was rewarded with a pleased gurgle, a sound that only increased in volume when he moved up her neck, licking and sucking on it with an almost feral hunger.  
She-of-Depths made quick work of his belt despite the distraction and Cassius had to pause his efforts to groan when her hand slipped into his trousers and gripped his rock hard length.  
Overcome by a need to give She-of-Depths easier access to him, Cassius roughly pushed at his trousers until they were below his knees and She-of-Depths had complete access to his cock,  
access she quickly took advantage of by starting a slow and steady rhythm that had Cassius reaching for her body again, pressing and squeezing desperately.  
When his hands made their way to the ties of her vest Cassius looked up at She-of-Depths for confirmation and was met with an eager nod. Making as quick work of the task as possible, Cassius was soon peeling the vest off of She-of-Depths, exposing her breasts to his gaze.  
He had seen them when she had stripped in front of him but he hadn’t really noticed that she had no visible nipples.  
Noticing his confused stare, She-of-Depths huffed lightly in amusement,  
“Argonian nipples are hidden, here, She-of-Depths will show Cassius Ordo how to find them.”  
With that said she grabbed Cassius’ hands and placed them on her breasts, they filled his large hands perfectly and Cassius couldn’t resist giving them a squeeze.  
She-of-Depths arched into his touch and Cassius grinned widely.  
She-of-Depths used her hands to shift Cassius’ grip slightly and pressed his pointer fingers into the center of her breasts,  
“Feel here, there is a slit, do not pull on the slit itself, it is very sensitive, pull along the whole...yes good the whole breast just like that, then squeeze from beneeeeath!” She-of-Depths voice rose uncontrollably at the end as Cassius pulled and squeezed as told and exposed the Argonians sensitive nipples.  
Cassius licked his lips unconsciously as he stared at them, they were a bright vibrant purple, vivid against the dark scales of her breasts.  
Unable to resist the urge to taste them Cassius bent his head and ran his tongue over one before locking his lips around it gently.  
She-of-Depths’ initial gurgle quickly rose to a fully fledged moan as Cassius licked and sucked at her nipple.  
Excited by the noises he was able to pull from her, Cassius began to use his hands to play with her other nipple, gently running his pointer finger over it while he squeezed her breasts.  
She-of-Depths continued to moan and gasp which only added fuel to the fire, but eventually a hand tangled in his hair pulled Cassius’ head away from She-of-Depths breasts.  
Panting heavily She-of-Depths used her free hand to grab on of Cassius’ and press it between her legs, they groaned in unison as Cassius began to move his fingers, pressing them into the intense heat radiating even through her clothes.  
Both of his hands were suddenly at the belt holding her pants up, fumbling with it in his eagerness while She-of-Depths quickly removed her boots and then the rest of her clothing and armour.  
Cassius finally managed to get the belt undone and quickly pushed She-of-Depths’ pants down only to push his hand back against her core, desperate to feel her directly.  
What he found there though brought him up short, while it was similar to that of the few human and elven women he’d been with, it was still different. There was almost nothing external to it, just a slit that bared skin the same vibrant purple as her nipples as She-of-Depths flexed wantonly against his hand.  
Most importantly however, it was dry and that brought Cassius to a horrified stop. His gaze darting up to meet hers, Cassius opened his mouth to say something when She-of-Depths beat him to it,  
“Don’t worry Cassius Ordo, with Argonians it is the male that is...slick, She-of-Depths wants this very much.”  
“Oh, thank the Eight… but then, how do we do this?” Cassius’ relieved slump brought his head back to She-of-Depths’ breasts and after half a moment's consideration he began to suckle on them again while his hand moved back to her core and began to press against it experimentally.  
She-of-Depths’ gasp turned into a loud gurgle that occasionally rose into moans as she bucked against Cassius’ hand.  
“We, hnnngh, we will have to… lubricate, ahnn, your cock.” Grabbing the hand pressing into her core, She-of-Depths pushed at it, showing Cassius how to please her, while her other hand grabbed onto his shaft which immediately flexed into her hand.  
They moved like that for several minutes, rubbing against each other while their panting breaths and hungry moans were covered by the heavy rain still falling outside. 

Cassius pulled his head away from She-of-Depths nipple to look up at her face, she was gurgling in between quick breaths, she was also staring at his cock as her hand stroked up and down it, her thumb occasionally sliding up to brush against the sensitive head which invariably caused Cassius’ hips to press upwards.  
She-of-Depths pulled her gaze away to meet his eyes, in that moment Cassius almost pulled her into a hungry kiss but was derailed when She-of-Depths looked back down at his cock and let her tongue slowly fall out of her parted muzzle, Cassius’ heart stuttered and then kicked back into gear hard as She-of-Depths pulled her body away from his to lay across his lap and lowered her head.  
Cassius’ groan was the loudest yet when She-of-Depths pressed her hot tongue against the base of his cock before sliding it up the shaft in one smooth motion.  
Cassius released the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, only to take in another ratcheting breath that refused to leave when She-of-Depths tilted her head and took the top half of his shaft into her mouth. Unable to wrap her lips around it and suck like a human or elf would, she compensated by wrapping her tongue around it and squeezing, her pleased gurgle sending vibrations through her tongue.  
Cassius couldn’t help the desperate thrusting off his hips until She-of-Depths placed her hands on either side and pushed them back to the ground.  
Unwrapping her tongue She-of-Depths pulled her head off Cassius’ cock only to lap gently at the head, Cassius couldn’t contain himself and words burst out of him.  
“Oh, fuck… that, fuck, that feels amazing, I didn’t… shit, please take it back in!”  
She-of-Depths giggled at his breathless rambling but was happy to do as Cassius asked and took his cock back into her mouth.  
Wrapping her tongue around the head, She-of-Depths began to rhythmically slide it up and down his shaft while simultaneously squeezing it, simulating sex in a way that had Cassius desperately reaching for something to hold, ending up with one hand behind him and the other resting against the side of her head as it bobbed slightly in time with the movement of her tongue.  
Cassius couldn’t look away from She-of-Depths, his eyes roaming over her body, from her mouth giving him such pleasure, her gurgling and throaty moans showing that she was also thoroughly enjoying herself, to the rest of her head, her eyes were closed as she focused only on the taste and feel of him, to the muscles of her back, flexing beneath her scales, down to her buttocks and tail, delightfully shown off by her pose.  
Cassius’ eyes stopped there and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to run his hands over her ass again.  
Squeezing it firmly Cassius looked back to She-of-Depths face to see her looking up at him, a hunger in her eyes evident even to him. Staring into her eyes Cassius rubbed and massaged her buttocks as well as he could one handed, his gaze was soon torn away when he felt something brush over the back of his hand. Seeing She-of-Depths’ tail rubbing against his hand, Cassius shifted his grip quickly, grabbing onto her tail Cassius gave it a squeeze.  
She-of-Depths moaned loudly into his cock when he did so Cassius began to slide his hand back and forth over it, squeezing and rubbing along as much of the length as he could reach.  
In response She-of-Depths became more aggressive, her head bobbing further and further down his shaft while the ministrations of her tongue became audible, the wet sound of flesh on flesh rising above their heavy breaths.  
Cassius leant his body over to give himself more access to She-of-Depths’ legs and tail. Using both hands now he wrapped one around her tail while the other pushed between her thighs to press itself against her core again.  
She-of-Depths’ tail flexed in his hand, the tip of it smacking into Cassius’ pack.  
Cassius’ eyes had instinctively followed the movement and upon seeing his pack he both remembered that he couldn’t properly please She-of-Depths without lubricant and that they had just enough butter left for that exact purpose.  
Reaching for his pack meant stopping his fondling of She-of-Depths’ assets, within a few seconds She-of-Depths had noticed the pause and had shifted position to look at him, his cock still in her mouth but her tongue no longer moving.  
A moment later, Cassius pulled out the oiled canvas containing the butter and turned to look back at She-of-Depths,  
“So, we need lubricant right?” Cassius felt like an idiot brandishing a pack of butter while his dick was in the mouth of another person, but She-of-Depths just gurgled brightly, sending another vibration through her tongue before she lifted her head up.  
Without a word She-of-Depths held her hand out and Cassius passed the pack to her.  
Opening the pack quickly, She-of-Depths wasted no time slathering Cassius’ cock while Cassius finally got around to removing his clothes properly.  
Sitting upright, Cassius was surprised when She-of-Depths grabbed his hand and used the last of the butter to coat his first two fingers.  
“Argonians are different, She-of-Depths will teach Cassius Ordo how to please her.” She-of-Depths shooed him up as she spoke till she was where he used to be and he was now crouched above her.  
Taking his hand in hers, She-of-Depths guided Cassius’ fingers to her slit, their breaths quickened in unison as Cassius’ fingers slowly pushed into the tight warmth between She-of-Depths legs.  
“Inside… there is, hmmn, a ring… that is the most sensitive part… unph, stroke it gently.”  
She-of-Depths gasped when Cassius’ fingers bumped into something just before they hilted fully inside her.  
Careful to be gentle, Cassius began to explore. Running his fingers along the obstruction he found that it was actually a ring, pushing his fingers through it he was surprised when it tightened around the digits.  
Looking up at She-of-Depths’ face he found her smirking at him, her breath coming in short sharp gasps.  
Still looking at her, Cassius traced the entire edge of the ring and watched as her eyes closed and her back arched slightly.  
His confidence growing, Cassius began to rub more firmly, pushing against the ring as it tightened around him again.  
She-of-Depths ground herself against his hand, her own hands gripping her thighs.  
Twisting his wrist Cassius began to set a rhythm with She-of-Depths’ rolling hips.  
His efforts were rewarded by pants and moans that kept his cock bobbing with excitement.  
Leaning over her Cassius kept up the stroking movements of his hands while also taking one of She-of-Depths’ nipples into his mouth.  
The action caused the Argonian’s back to arch and one of her hands left her thigh to grab his head and push it into her breast.  
Cassius let himself lean on his elbow, laying next to She-of-Depths more than over her.  
Flicking his tongue over her nipple Cassius delighted in She-of-Depths’ moans and gasps.  
Struggling to keep the rhythm with his growing excitement, Cassius had to lift his head and look down at his pumping hand to concentrate.  
Soon She-of-Depths was struggling to keep pace herself, her legs shaking and back arching, it was only a few moments until Cassius’ pumping hand pushed her over the edge and she came with a long drawn out moan, her inner walls crushing tight against Cassius’ fingers.  
Collapsing back on the ground She-of-Depths was panting as Cassius withdrew his hand,  
“Cassius Ordo has definitely earned himself another discount.”  
Cassius couldn’t contain the laugh that burst out of him at She-of-Depths statement, feeling rather pleased with himself he maneuvered till he was braced on his arms on either side of her head.  
“We’re not done yet... if you’re happy to keep going.” Cassius’ flexed his dick as he spoke, drawing She-of-Depths attention to it.  
Her answer was to simply spread her legs wide for him again.  
Grinning broadly Cassius dropped to rest on an elbow while he grabbed his cock with his other hand to line it up with She-of-Depths’ entrance.  
Pressing the tip of his cock against her slit, Cassius looked up at She-of-Depths again, resting her hands on his shoulders She-of-Depths locked eyes with him and nodded once.  
Pressing into her, Cassius groaned at her tightness. Releasing his grip on himself Cassius braced himself on both sides again, pushing in slowly Cassius took great pleasure in the rising volume of She-of-Depths gurgle as he filled her.  
He was less than half way in when the head of his cock hit the ring of sensitive muscle inside her,  
“Push...push through!” She-of-Depths tone was equal parts demanding and pleading and Cassius couldn’t resist.  
Slowly but firmly he kept pushing in, the ring held firm for a few moments as She-of-Depths rolled her hips, grinding it against the tip of Cassius’ penis.  
Moving her hands to his arms, She-of-Depths gripped Cassius’ biceps hard as she relaxed her inner muscles, allowing Cassius to slip through.  
Cassius groaned as the ring pressed into his cock’s head, as he pushed it further into the tight hole.  
She-of-Depths grabbed his shoulders again and pressed her muzzle to Cassius’ neck to lick and nibble at it.  
Once the flared head popped through the ring, it was much easier for Cassius to push the rest of his cock into She-of-Depths, to his surprise she showed no signs of discomfort even when he hilted himself inside of her, instead she rolled her hips eagerly, pressing her inner muscles against his shaft.  
Pulling out took less time than entering until his head got back to the ring blocking his path out, pulling the flared head of his cock through had She-of-Depths writhing beneath him, her breath coming in desperate gasps as her fingers dug into his muscles almost painfully.  
Cassius didn’t fare much better, as soon as he’d pulled the widest part of his cockhead past the ring She-of-Depths had placed her feet behind his thighs and pushed him back forward, the perfect targeted pressure almost unraveled him but he managed to catch himself.  
Pulling himself past the ring again Cassius was ready when She-of-Depths tried to push him back,  
“I’m not… I’m not gonna last long if you keep doing that to me.” Cassius warned her.  
“Cassius Ordo… please put it back in, She-of-Depths feels so good, She-of-Depths can come again, just please… fuck her!” The raw desire in She-of-Depths broke any remnant of willpower Cassius had left and he began to thrust, short shallow thrusts, pushing the head of his cock through and then back out the sensitive ring inside her.  
It took him a few thrusts to slip into rhythm with She-of-Depths flexing inner muscles but once he did Cassius was in heaven, She-of-Depths clung to him as she panted and moaned.  
Cassius was doing everything in his power to bring She-of-Depths to another orgasm but he was losing the battle, dropping his gaze Cassius was momentarily entranced by She-of-Depths breasts bouncing in time with his thrusts. Feeling his own orgasm approaching rapidly, Cassius dipped his head and sucked a nipple firmly, his cheeks hollowing out with the effort, while he shifted his weight to one elbow so he could tease both of She-of-Depths’ sensitive nipples at once.  
Doing so caused him to lose his rhythm almost immediately but it didn’t matter because She-of-Depths was bucking beneath him as another orgasm hit her hard.  
Cassius was less than a second behind her, his hips stuttering as he came harder than ever before.  
Dropping back to both elbows Cassius barely stopped himself from dropping onto She-of-Depths while he drew in great lungfuls of air.  
She-of-Depths’ satisfied gurgling brought him back to the present, glancing down at her Cassius couldn’t help but return the smile she was giving him.  
“I uhh, I hope that was enough to… oh fuck I came inside you, shit, uhhh-” Cassius smile dropped instantly when he shifted and felt his softening cock slip through the ring.  
She-of-Depths interrupted him before he could begin to truly panic,  
“Cassius Ordo has nothing to worry about, Argonians and humans cannot have babes… although She-of-Depths was hoping Cassius Ordo would finish on her face.” She-of-Depths chuckled when Cassius’ cock gave one final tired flex in response to her last words.  
“Oh uhh, that’s good and umm, next time?” Cassius’ face flushed at his awkwardness, he’d never been good at post sex conversation.  
She-of-Depths merely smiled at him as her gurgle grew louder.  
“Yes, next time… for now, roll over, She-of-Depths doesn’t want to be crushed.”  
With a chuckle Cassius swapped places with She-of-Depths again. When her head came to rest on his chest, Cassius couldn’t help but run a hand from her snout over the back of her head.  
A brief burst of louder gurgling prompted him to keep going and soon they were both dozing in the shade of the overhang. Their breathing and She-of-Depths contented gurgling being the only sounds around them.  
Neither of them noticed it had stopped raining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uhh, yeah, that was a thing.  
> Also 5000 words, fuck doing that much again, the smut scene just kept going and going, hopefully to your enjoyment at least.  
> Uhh, *your favourite YouTubers outro song*


	7. Cuddles... Bad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I am just getting worse at chapter titles as time goes on.   
> Anyway I'm really sorry this took so long, was struggling super hard until I had a sudden breathrough... like 300 words before the end.   
> On top of that the person I get to fix all my mistakes/help me just have a better story wasn't able to help me out for a while so I had to ask someone else to be witness to my shame :P   
> Quick warnings I guess, Cassius has some mild anxiety, She-of-Depths has. not a panic attack but she has some struggles, I am hoping to explain why in the next chapter. Hopefully I did a good job of conveying that.  
> I hope you enjoy :)

Cassius was idly tracing the scales on the back of one of She-of-Depths hands when the first shiver went through him.   
She-of-Depths stretched lazily on top of him, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders so she could pull herself further up him to look him in the eye,  
“Cassius Ordo is cold?” Without waiting for an answer she pulled even further up, wrapped her arms around Cassius’ head and pushed her breasts into his face.  
“What about now?” She-of-Depths laughed as she smothered him.   
Cassius was entirely happy with the situation and merely grasped She-of-Depths by the waist and let it happen.   
Pushing herself up onto he hands She-of-Depths looked down at Cassius,  
“She-of-Depths was meant to be teasing but, she thinks Cassius Ordo enjoyed it too much for that.”   
Cassius just grinned at her.  
She-of-Depths grinned back before spinning around on top of him to reach her pack, Cassius immediately missed her body heat even with her legs rubbing over his torso.  
Taking the opportunity to look at She-of-Depths body again Cassius‘ eyes traced over her back, where muscles shifted enticingly, down over her buttocks, the sight of which caused Cassius to unconsciously suck in a sharp breath, then along her thighs which Cassius couldn’t resist touching.   
Moving his hand up Cassius gently cupped She-of-Depths lower thigh then ran his hand up and around, massaging the muscles there before grasping her thigh firmly.   
A soft gurgle brought Cassius’ gaze back up to She-of-Depths face to find that she had twisted her body to look at him, her eyes smouldering.  
“She-of-Depths likes the way Cassius Ordo looks at her… and how he touches her”  
Cassius didn’t think he would after what they’d done but he still felt his face flush under She-of-Depths gaze.  
“Cassius Ordo is very handsome when he blushes.” She-of-Depths chuckled when Cassius’ face got even redder.   
Wishing he could think of something witty or flirtatious to say back Cassius just remained quiet and removed his hand from She-of-Depths thigh to run through his hair.  
Turning back to her pack She-of-Depths quickly grabbed the item she went for before pushing herself back to Cassius, a blanket in her hands.   
Handing the blanket temporarily to Cassius, She-of-Depths pulled him into a sitting position and then took the blanket back so she could unroll it and throw it over the two of them.   
Cassius let himself be moved around, suddenly unsure of himself, he’d had enough sexual encounters, particularly with a very instructive High Elf, to be fairly confident in the act itself but now that his post-sex bliss was easing Cassius didn’t know what to do and that made him very uncomfortable.  
Sitting with her back pressed against Cassius’ chest She-of-Depths took a few moments to shift herself into a comfortable position, well aware of the effect her movements had on Cassius.   
Cassius tried to ignore his body's automatic reaction as best he could while his heart hammered wildly and his mind struggled to figure out this situation, that was particularly difficult when She-of-Depths shifted a hand under the blanket to push Cassius’ cock against her core, gurgling happily as she did.   
Whether She-of-Depths felt how tense Cassius had gotten or if she just wanted to see him blush again, the Argonian tilted her head back to look at him but when she saw the look on Cassius’ face her gurgling stopped immediately,  
“Cassius Ordo? What is wrong?”   
Cassius looked down at her, a brief burst of shame running through him at the worry in her eyes.  
“I-I don’t know what to do… and I don’t like that.” Cassius realised that he hadn’t given much of an explanation but She-of-Depths seemed to understand,  
“She-of-Depths is not the best to learn this from but… Cassius Ordo does not have to do anything, he can tease She-of-Depths back if he wants, or just sit and enjoy her touch... or he can push her away.”   
“No, no, please… I like it when you're close… so uhh, I just, enjoy your touch?” Cassius’ heart was still beating rapidly but now that he’d been given a goal, as potentially vague as it was, he was starting to calm down.  
She-of-Depths twisted her body to face him better, bracing herself with a forearm across Cassius’ chest she moved her other hand back between her legs.  
Cassius’ cock had mostly softened since She-of-Depths original ministrations but at Cassius’ nod to an unasked question it didn’t take She-of-Depths long to coax it back to life.  
Cassius released a shaky sigh when She-of-Depths pressed his cock between her thighs, the warmth and pressure going a long way to make him forget his previous worries.   
When her hand joined in to gently stroke the sensitive head, Cassius had nothing on his mind except what the Argonian on top of him was doing.   
She-of-Depths shifted, leaning her shoulder on Cassius rather than her forearm she started using both hands to play with him.   
When a bead of pre-cum leaked from the tip She-of-Depths almost immediately began to spread it over the head of Cassius’ cock, watching her fingers glide over it intently.   
When She-of-Depths let out a soft moan and began to roll her hips to press her core against his shaft Cassius realised he was being somewhat selfish,  
“Mmmgh… Does She-of-Depths want to enjoy my touch too?”   
She-of-Depths had looked back up at him when he started speaking and nodded eagerly when he finished, going as far as to arch her back to present her breasts even more enticingly.   
Cassius wasted no time, grabbing the soft flesh and squeezing gently, marvelling at the texture of small scales against his thumb.   
While he enjoyed She-of-Depths little huffs and near silent exclamations of pleasure Cassius soon wanted more.   
Eagerly pulling, pushing and squeezing to expose She-of-Depths nipples as he was taught, Cassius fumbled it a few times, only getting tantalising glimpses of the purple prize before it was swallowed up again.   
Deciding to utilise his free hand, which up until this point had rested idly on the ground, Cassius lifted it up to wrap around and grab She-of-Depths breast from the other side.  
Cassius’ had barely gotten his hand above her waist before She-of-Depths had grabbed it and pushed it back to the ground roughly.   
They both paused, Cassius didn’t know exactly what he’d done but as what was really only a few heartbeats seemed to stretch into minutes Cassius’ mind rapidly supplied him with the other times She-of-Depths had reacted like that.   
She-of-Depths opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out, her jaw slowly closing, She-of-Depths looked up at Cassius’ face.   
Cassius held her gaze but She-of-Depths soon looked away again, her eyes eventually resting on where she was still holding Cassius’ arm, although without applying any pressure.  
“Sh- She-of-Depths… She-of-Depths still wants to feel good.” The sound of her voice took Cassius by surprise but when She-of-Depths looked up to his face again Cassius nodded silently.   
It was awkward trying to get back into the swing of things after stopping like they had, but when She-of-Depths lifted her tail and placed it gently into his hand, Cassius relaxed enough to give it a little tug.  
The soft squeaky huff she made emboldened him further and Cassius began to gently massage She-of-Depths’ tail and breasts.   
When her hand crept back down to touch his cock again though, Cassius decided he didn’t really want to be touched again, all he wanted was for She-of-Depths to feel good.   
Moving a hand from her breast to brush her hand away caused She-of-Depths to look at Cassius curiously.   
“Just you this time.” Cassius followed up his words by pressing his hand against She-of-Depths’ core.   
She-of-Depths still seemed confused but pushed back against Cassius’ hand readily enough.   
Cassius grinned when she moaned softly and went to insert a finger, when the digit found only dry flesh he realised his mistake.  
“Dammit.” Cassius sighed in frustration, but before he could say or do anything else, She-of-Depths turned herself around and straddled his legs.  
“She-of-Depths knows… a trick.” Cassius eyebrows furrowed in confusion at first but when She-of-Depths grabbed his hand and raised it to her mouth, his heart skipped a beat at the realisation of what was about to happen.   
Watching her tongue slide out and gently guide his fingers into her mouth was one of the hottest things Cassius had ever seen and he almost changed his mind about not letting her touch him.   
When his gaze eventually lifted slightly to meet her eyes, Cassius couldn’t believe what he saw, She-of-Depths looked scared.   
Whether she saw that he noticed, or simply wanted to get on with things Cassius would never know but just before he opened his mouth to ask if she was ok, She-of-Depths pulled his now thoroughly wet fingers from her mouth and hurriedly pushed them against her slit.   
Cassius was torn between simply going along with her and stopping to make sure she was alright.   
An impatient whine from She-of-Depths made his mind up for him, Cassius didn’t know if she’d even tell him what was wrong but it was being made very clear to him that she desperately wanted him to touch her and so that’s what he did.   
Aware that saliva wasn’t the best lube, Cassius worked his fingers in slowly, She-of-Depths whined again and rolled hour hips against his hand to try and push his fingers in deeper.   
Cassius rested his free hand on her hip to keep She-of-Depths still and continued his slow entry.   
Soon his fingers had gotten too dry to continue and Cassius had to pull them out, wanting to taste her, he simply stuck them in his own mouth to cover them with spit again.  
She-of-Depths, who had squawked in disapproval when he’d removed his fingers, stared as Cassius sucked the taste of her off his fingers.   
Soon however she began to get antsy, when She-of-Depths whined again and rolled her hips against his legs, Cassius figured his time was up and quickly pulled his fingers out his mouth and back into the needy Argonian.  
Managing to work his way to the sensitive ring, Cassius began a gentle rhythm.   
The noises She-of-Depths was making confused him, they seemed good but the whines and softs huffs she was making were very different from the panting and lust filled moans of last time he’d had his fingers inside her and the gurgling that always so clearly showed she was having a good time was nowhere to be heard.   
Despite this change in behaviour She-of-Depths was still clamping down tightly on Cassius’ fingers and her hands had come to grip his forearm, keeping it in place as she ground against his fingers.  
Whatever was happening with She-of-Depths it didn’t stop her from quickly reaching an orgasm but this time her back didn’t arch, instead she pressed the top of her head into his shoulder and shuddered silently while her inner muscles spasmed around Cassius’ fingers.  
Once she was done, Cassius slowly removed his fingers but She-of-Depths didn’t move.   
While her head was pressed against him, her body was arched away.   
Looking down at her in concern, Cassius found her eyes tightly closed and the rest of her body tense, she barely seemed to be breathing, an ever so slight rise in her chest the only indication that she hadn’t frozen completely.   
Cassius decided to do the closest equivalent of something that always worked for him, raising his free hand, Cassius gently ran his fingers down the back of the Argonians neck, She-of-Depths didn’t have hair for him to run his fingers through but he hoped it would have a similar effect.  
His first touch caused She-of-Depths to release a very audible sigh, as Cassius’ kept stroking her neck She-of-Depths slowly relaxed, her body moving closer to his.   
Eventually she moved her head, resting it as she usually did, the side of it against his shoulder with her snout resting along his collar bone.  
Cassius started to stroke from the tip of She-of-Depths snout, over her head and down her neck, being sure to stop before he got to her shoulders.   
After the first of these, She-of-Depths just about collapsed into him but it took a few more before she opened her eyes.  
Despite him wracking his brain to find something else to help improve She-of-Depths mood it took Cassius’ own stomach complaining loudly for him to realise an almost surefire way,   
“Hungry?” the question came out awkwardly but She-of-Depths just looked up at him before nodding against his chest.  
Pushing herself upright so that he could work, She-of-Depths watched as Cassius quickly pulled some bread and cheese out of his pack and set about making some plain sandwiches.   
“Sorry it’s nothing good, I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.” Sitting back upright, Cassius held out a sandwich to She-of-Depths who, rather than taking it from him, simply leant forward and took a bite out of it.   
Cassius pulled the sandwich back in surprise but She-of-Depths used the opening to lean against Cassius chest again.   
When she opened her mouth for another bite Cassius obligingly gave it to her, he didn’t mind feeding her if it meant she would feel better and when She-of-Depths grabbed his hand to show him how she liked to have her head rubbed, he was fairly certain she was feeling better.   
She-of-Depths finished her sandwich quickly and Cassius wolfed his down immediately afterwards.   
With the cold of the evening well and truly set in they hurried to set up a bedroll and bundle underneath both of their blankets.   
Cassius was relieved he’d managed to help She-of-Depths deal with what was bothering her, at least somewhat, but what he really wanted was to hear her gurgle at him, if she did that then he knew everything was ok.   
When She-of-Depths was making herself comfortable on top of him, Cassius leant up quickly to place a quick kiss on the end of her snout, hoping it would have the desired effect.   
Instead She-of-Depths looked at him quizzically before suddenly pushing her snout under Cassius chin and breathing out, tickling him enough to make him giggle.   
When She-of-Depths grinned at him afterwards, Cassius relaxed, it might not have been a gurgle but it was good enough for him.   
Laying his head back down on the pillow, Cassius resolved to stay awake long enough to make sure She-of-Depths fell asleep, to do this he began to think of the emotional whirlwind that was his day.  
He’d barely gotten to the misery of travelling in frigid tundra rain before sleep claimed him, to his credit She-of-Depths had drifted off mere moments before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like, yeah... that was a thing.   
> Fun fact this ENTIRE CHAPTER was originally envisioned as a short little few hundred chapter scene at the beginning of what will now be chapter 8.   
> I hope you enjoyed and please, comment if you see any way I can improve, I know my writing style can be a little short on detail but maybe that helps some of you? I dunno I just write man  
> Anyway  
> Peace


	8. Don't worry, things get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rejoice for the horny lizard lady is back!  
> Sorry for the delay, this chapter has been written for a while but They Who Fix my Shit wasn't able to have a read of it until today and there were a couple lines I actually needed their help with rather than just putting in a bunch of , and '  
> No smut today if anybody was hoping but it's uhh "hinted" that there might be some next chapter... just hints... definitely not explicitly stated that they gonna bang.   
> ANYWAY  
> Hope you enjoy.

The sun had barely begun to peek over the horizon when Cassius was awoken with a gentle shake.   
Opening his eyes blearily, Cassius found himself face to face with She-of-Depths, her bright green eyes staring down at him.  
“...Good morning?” Cassius' confused greeting was met with a grin before She-of-Depths scrambled off of him, taking the blanket with her and leaving Cassius’ naked body exposed to the cold air.   
His undignified squawk was met by a gleeful cackle, but mercy was soon shown when She-of-Depths threw his change of clothes at him.   
Dressing quickly, Cassius cringed as the damp cloth slid against his skin.   
At least once he was dressed and shivering slightly less he got to sit and watch She-of-Depths as she moved around their temporary shelter still completely naked, seeming completely unbothered by the cold.   
Cassius almost reached out to touch her before the events of the previous night came back and halted him before he’d done much more than raise his hands out of his lap.  
Letting his hands drop, Cassius contented himself with simply watching, confident that she always enjoyed him looking at her if not always touching.   
His eyes followed She-of-Depths as she bustled around the camp and it was only once she’d finally gotten dressed and turned to face him with his somewhat ruined cloak in hand that Cassius realised he could, and should, have been helping.   
Scrambling to his feet, Cassius almost stumbled trying to make sure She-of-Depths didn’t have to walk over to pass his cloak back.  
“I’m sorry, I should have been helping, I’ll set up camp tonight by myself or, or… do something.” Cassius’ rambling apology was cut short when She-of-Depths chuckled and pressed a finger to his lips.  
“Cassius Ordo was distracted, did he enjoy looking at She-of-Depths naked body?” Her voice was bland but She-of-Depths’ eyes held a wicked glint as she teased Cassius.  
Cassius’ face reddened right on cue and his hand running through his hair came soon after.   
Another apology almost escaped his lips but was stopped when Cassius remembered that She-of-Depths wanted him to tease her back.  
“Yes, you’re beautiful.” Cassius blushed harder at his pathetic attempt.   
She-of-Depths however seemed genuinely pleased, her lips split into a wide smile and she stepped closer, pressing her body against Cassius’, running her free hand down his chest.  
“Cassius Ordo thinks She-of-Depths is beautiful? Which part of her is the most beautiful? Her breasts? Her thighs? Her tail?” She-of-Depths pressed herself closer with every question, throwing his cloak over his shoulder so she could get both hands rubbing and squeezing along his body.   
Cassius’ mind raced desperately trying to find a suitable answer, even as his body distracted him with things like how good it felt to have She-of-Depths pressed up against him, how nice she smelled despite having been travelling for several days and how sexy her voice sounded when she pushed up on tip toe to whisper her last suggestion into his ear.  
Staring dumbly for a few seconds Cassius came up with nothing so as he always did he defaulted to the truth.   
“Whatever part I’m thinking of at the time.”   
Which right then, were her eyes, the brightest, most expressive, green he’d ever seen, from soft calm pools when she was happy to twinkling jewels when she was teasing him or to hard, flat gems when she was angry, and he suspected they became like green fire when she was impassioned, all of them so bright against skin and scales that are so much more than simply dark purple, an enrapturing array of shades that no artist could ever adequately capture. Even now in the dim light of the morning, Cassius could see shades and transitions he had never noticed before. He thought he could spend days simply admiring her colours, and that’s assuming he didn’t get distracted by the body underneath, a perfect combination of the softness of a woman's body with the firm, toned muscles of a fit and experienced adventurer combined to form the ultimate example of someone he never thought he’d be attracted to but he knew for a fact that given the opportunity he would happily spend his day rubbing and massaging every part of her he could, memorising how she feels, her scales over soft curves and firm muscle alike.   
It was only when She-of-Depths slid both hands onto his shoulders and literally hopped into his arms and he instinctively grabbed her by her thighs that Cassius realised he had been voicing all those thoughts aloud.   
Suddenly feeling light headed, Cassius opened his mouth to apologise but She-of-Depths beat him to it. Pulling herself up so she was face to face with Cassius, She-of-Depths slid a hand into his hair and said very seriously,  
“She-of-Depths has just gotten dressed and she would like to make it to Morthal today, but if Cassius Ordo keeps talking like that She-of-Depths will not be able to stop herself from fucking him until neither of us can walk.”   
Cassius’ blush actually receded slightly but it still took him a few seconds to gather his thoughts enough to respond.  
“Maybe… maybe we can wait till tonight till we, uhh, fuck until neither of us can walk.”   
Unable to run a hand through his hair, Cassius suffered the embarrassment caused by that line as best he could but any embarrassment was soon lost when he heard a most glorious sound.   
She-of-Depths was gurgling, a wide grin on her face as she leant forward to whisper in his ear again,   
“Deal.”   
Sealing her one word promise with a quick lick along the shell of Cassius’ ear, She-of-Depths then dropped back to the ground, gurgling all the while.   
Cassius didn’t think he’d be able to grin so wide and blush at the same time but he was managing it.   
Both grin and blush softened when She-of-Depths elbowed him in the ribs and thrust his pack at him but while the blush slowly ebbed away his smile never left his face, mainly due to She-of-Depths sticking close to his side as they travelled rather than the several metres ahead of days past.

The last leg of the trip to Morthal was almost boring in its uneventfulness, no rivers to cross, no freezing rain and no sacked wagons, though Cassius thanked the Divines for all of that.  
The walk was never truly boring thanks entirely to She-of-Depths, she would often comment on land marks as they became visible, normally just pointing out what it was but if she had personal experience there it would have an accompanying story, her tale of sneaking into a giants camp just to grab a taste of mammoth cheese had him so enthralled he tripped on a rock and almost fell only to be grabbed and steadied by a laughing She-of-Depths.   
Soon they stopped for lunch, while Cassius prepared it, a sad affair of whatever hadn’t been ruined by the storm, he tried to think of a way to bring up the previous night, it had been an insane whirlwind of emotion for the both of them and Cassius still wasn’t sure what had happened.   
Cassius still had no idea what to say by the time he’d served up and he was soon distracted from those thoughts when She-of-Depths grabbed both plates before plonking herself onto his lap.   
Wiggling herself into a comfortable position leaning sideways against him, She-of-Depths grinned at Cassius before feeding him in a reversal of the night before.   
Looking into the deep pools that were her eyes at that moment Cassius decided to forget about the night before, the bad parts anyway, he was never going to forget the feeling, or the sight, or the sounds of She-of-Depths moaning beneath him as he brought her to climax.   
Pulled out of his thoughts by She-of-Depths feeding him another morsel, Cassius quickly realised his brief trip down memory lane had caused an unsurprising but unwanted physical reaction and with She-of-Depths nestled so comfortably on top of him there was nothing he could do to prevent it from pressing into the Argonian.  
Any hope that she may not notice was crushed when, the next time She-of-Depths went to feed him, she wore a cocky smirk and very purposefully pressed herself harder against him while he chewed.  
“What is Cassius ordo thinking about?” Cassius immediately blushed at her question, running a hand through his hair and sighing deeply before replying, Cassius briefly considered making up something to tease She-of-Depths but considering how well the truth had worked that morning he gave it another shot.  
“You, last night, what you looked like, the noises you made… what it felt like inside you.” Unlike that morning, Cassius was fully conscious of what he was saying and had to take a deep breath mid sentence before blurting the last part out in a rush.  
Much to Cassius’ surprise, She-of-Depths merely nodded gently and kept feeding him and herself.   
Worried he’d been too forward or creepy Cassius barely tasted the food and wasn’t at all ready when, once their meal was done, She-of-Depths simply threw the plate aside before turning to face him fully, her knees on either side of him.   
Cassius didn’t have time to get a word out before She-of-Depths went for his neck, her tongue sliding out to taste the skin there while her hands travelled along his body, one finding its way into his hair while the other came to rest on his chest.  
Surprised by, and unwilling to fight against, She-of-Depths’ wanton assault, Cassius fell backwards against the grass, one hand coming to rest on the Argonian’s hip.   
She-of-Depths kept licking Cassius’ neck for a few moments before sitting up with a wide grin, her hand sliding out of his hair.   
Grinding herself against his erection, She-of-Depths began to gurgle quietly.  
“Wer- weren’t we going to wait till tonight?” Cassius immediately regretted his stupid question when She-of-Depths stopped moving to look at him quizzically, a small frown on her face.  
“Does Cassius Ordo want to stop?” She-of-Depths had grabbed his free hand and had paused with it halfway towards her chest.   
“No, sorry, being stupid.” Cassius followed up his words by pulling himself up to press his lips to the crook of She-of-Depths neck.   
He couldn’t help his grin when She-of-Depths moaned into his hair, her moans grew into a consistent gurgling as Cassius began to lick and suck his way up her neck, savouring the taste and feel of the scales there.   
Halfway up, Cassius realised he could feel the vibrations from She-of-Depths gurgling, slowing his pace down he began to kiss and nip at her neck softly.   
After teasing her like this for several moments, Cassius pressed in hard and suddenly enough that She-of-Depths’ gurgling was briefly interrupted by a squeak.   
Cassius was briefly worried that he’d been a bit too aggressive when he felt She-of-Depths grab a fistful of his hair but rather than pull him away, she used her leverage to push him against her neck harder, tilting her head to give him even easier access.  
Not one to turn down a delicious meal, Cassius dove in again.   
Remembering he had a hand that was still being grasped loosely by She-of-Depths, Cassius gave the Argonian’s hand a quick squeeze before pulling free and beginning a much more thorough squeezing of her breasts instead.  
The hitch in She-of-Depths gurgling and subsequent increase in volume had Cassius grinning but he soon let loose his own sound of pleasure when she began grinding against him again.  
They continued on like this for several moments, with Cassius swapping to the other side of She-of-Depths neck, their movements became harder and more urgent as their excitement built.   
Cassius was just thinking of undressing the Argonian on top of him when he remembered a small detail, the implications of that small detail hitting him harder than the torrential downpour of the previous day.   
Dropping his head against She-of-Depths shoulder, Cassius couldn’t hold back a massive sigh of disappointment.   
“Cassius Ordo? What is wrong?” She-of-Depths’ voice was confused and worried at his sudden lack of movement.  
“We don’t have any lube.” Cassius spoke into She-of-Depths’ shoulder but loud enough for her to hear.   
There was a brief pause before she too heaved out a sigh.   
They sat as they were for a few minutes as their excitement flowed away before She-of-Depths spoke up again.  
“Cassius Ordo…” Cassius leant back to look at her,  
“Hmm?”   
“... Should prepare for tonight… She-of-Depths has plans for him.” Her hand running through his hair brought down the ominous factor of that line but Cassius still felt a twinge of worry, he didn’t want to know what would happen if they got interrupted again.  
She-of-Depths let loose another sigh before climbing off of him and getting to her feet, offering a hand to Cassius,   
“Come Cassius Ordo, we should get going, She-of-Depths wants a room with a good bed.” Cassius chuckled at her exaggerated wink before taking her hand and hauling himself to his feet.   
After a quick adjustment of his pants that made She-of-Depths cackle briefly at his expense, Cassius grabbed his pack and they headed east for Morthal at a swift pace, more eager than ever to get to the city and spend a night in a warm comfortable bed… although unlike the day before, sleeping was the last thing on Cassius’ mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, explicitly stating you're gonna fuck someone counts as flirting right?  
> I hope you enjoyed, this chapter was originally gonna include all of what will be chapter 9 as well but then an unplanned scene suddenly existed and I decided to split the chapter in two.   
> I hope y'all have a wonderful day, no promises on chapter 9 but it's coming.


	9. Things Getting Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello, so just before anything else, this chapter has not been beta read, I gave it a quick once over but that's it.   
> Now, time for apologies, this took way longer than I had hoped and it hasn't even gotten to the point it was supposed to (which is so strange for me, my chapters never get so bloated with random extra scenes that I have to split them up) is also a bit short but I wanted to post something given how long it's been.  
> In other news, I have a vague memory of promising smut in this chapter... yeah that didn't happen but hey there are cute times (I hope the times are cute.   
> ANYWAY   
> Here is a belated Christmas gift for all of you, ignore the shitty wrapping and bad tape work, it might be worth it.

The rest of the trip to Morthal was quiet and peaceful but their arrival was completely different, a massive crowd of people milled around what appeared to be a hastily constructed checkpoint where uniformed guards were clearly struggling to handle the volume of people.   
As Cassius and She-of-Depths came closer it became clear that most of the crowd were in fact heading out of town, there was still enough of a crowd that Varrek’s fantasies of a long night spent in a comfortable bed with She-of-Depths seemed less and less possible with every step.  
As they joined the back of the entry line Cassius took a glance at She-of-Depths to see her looking over the crowd and, given her expression, having the exact same thoughts as him.   
Sighing heavily, Cassius nudged She-of-Depths with his arm, when she turned to look at him he gave her the brightest smile he could under the circumstances.   
“Maybe we’ll get lucky? Probably won’t be a nice room but I’d settle for anything right now.”   
She-of-Depths didn’t say anything but she did manage a weak smile. 

Within thirty minutes they were standing in front of the one guard responsible for checking people heading into the city. The guard watched them approach, glancing between the two of them.  
The guard smiled widely at She-of-Depths when Cassius and her stopped,  
“Heya Depths, been a little while since we’ve seen you, staying long or just passing through?” The guard gave Cassius a quick nod but clearly expected She-of-Depths to do most of the talking and Cassius was happy to let her far greater experience lead the way.  
“We will stay one night, leave by midday tomorrow, need rest and supplies after getting caught in the rain.” as the guard dutifully copied down She-of-Depths’ words in slow and careful handwriting he spoke up again,   
“So how did you get caught out in the storm anyway? Not like you to miss the weather.”   
“She-of-Depths was… distracted.” From Cassius’ point of view She-of-Depths managed to keep a perfectly straight face as she said this but when the guard glanced back up at them his eyes immediately locked onto Cassius.   
Cassius shifted uncomfortably under the other mans gaze but the guards knowing smirk didn’t last long before he bent his head to finish writing.   
“Well on the topic of the storm, we’re pretty full up at the moment, you should have no trouble getting whatever you need supplies wise thanks to the new trade laws the Jarl enacted buuut also thanks to the new trade laws the inns have barely had enough rooms to house everyone and from what I’ve heard the innkeepers are already selling spots on the floor of the their common rooms. You might be able to find a place to rest your head tonight but nowhere… private.” The guard rambled on seemingly completely unaware of the soul crushing affect his words had on the two travelers.   
To Cassius’ great surprise She-of-Depths snarled wordlessly at the guard before grabbing his hand and dragging Cassius into the city.   
The guard simply laughed and then quickly finished writing, his previous slowness gone.   
“Uhh so what, what just happened?” Cassius asked once they were out of hearing range of the gate.   
She-of-Depths whirled to face him, her features twisted in anger. Still holding tightly onto his hand she began to rant,   
“Sigurd Frost-Arm is a jealous little man who is still angry that a man he was flirting with decided he liked She-of-Depths better EVEN THOUGH She-of-Depths rejected the other man because she did not like him!” She-of-Depths took a deep breath and leant her head gratefully into Cassius’ hand when he used his free hand to rub it.   
After She-of-Depths had calmed down somewhat Cassius gave her head one last rub before giving her a small smile,   
“Well, if it makes you feel any better I like you much much better than him. Now come on, at the very least we can get a nice hot meal.”   
She-of-Depths returned his smile with a small one of her own and they set off into the crowd again.   
It wasn’t long until She-of-Depths was pointing Cassius in the direction of a gaudily signed inn.  
“The Golden Ewe? Really?” Despite Cassius’ question the building in question looked well maintained and clean, he just couldn’t get past the name.  
“Terrible name but good food… soft beds too but....” She-of-Depths trailed off with a sigh.   
All Cassius could think to do was squeeze her hand but that appeared to have the desired effect as she smiled at him just before she pulled open the door and led him inside.   
Expecting to be assaulted with noise as he stepped through the door, Cassius was surprised when all he heard was muted conversation and the occasional clunk as someone put their tankard back on the table a bit harder than necessary.  
Even the bartender was subdued, barely raising an arm in greeting.   
She-of-Depths was frowning as she led Cassius up to the bar but her features relaxed slightly when the bartender gave her a small smile before speaking,   
“How you doin’ Depths? Surprised to see you with someone else.” Cassius was acknowledged with a simple nod which he returned as confidently as he could.  
"On a job… why is no one eating?" She-of-Depths hurried dismissal of the bartenders implied questions about Cassius hurt him more than he would have thought, he was distracted by the bartenders exasperated reply though.   
"My damn chef is sick, and apparently none of the helpers know how to make any of the damn dishes, not even the mutton stew, which makes me wonder why I damn well pay them… where was I… oh yes, and so with the Golden Ewe the fullest it's ever been, I've been tempted to give up my own room even, my biggest source of income is just… not happening!"   
While the bartender ranted on to an increasingly depressed looking She-of-Depths about how much money he could have made an idea was forming in Cassius' mind.   
In one of the infrequent breaks the bartender took to refill his lungs Cassius stepped forward and slapped his palm lightly against the counter top.   
"I have an offer for you." Cassius was pleasantly surprised his voice remained steady when the Nord behind the counter stopped to look at him.   
"You're gonna need more septims than you have to get my bed for the night boy."   
The bartender clearly wasn't pleased about being interrupted but a quick glance at She-of-Depths and her curious eyes gave Cassius the courage to push on.   
"My offer involves no coin actually… I'm a chef, trained by the best in the Imperial City, as long as you've got ingredients in your kitchen I can feed these people." Cassius took another look at She-of-Depths and couldn't help but smile as understanding, and then hope, dawned on her face.   
"So, if you don't want money then you clearly want a room… how do I know you're as good as you say you are?" Cassius merely smiled at the bartenders expected question.  
"Because I'll prove it, I'll make a single serving of whatever you want me to and if you're not happy with it then we move on."   
The bartender pondered this for a moment before breaking into a wide grin,  
"Sounds like a good deal to me, HILDE COME WATCH THE BAR!" after calling for what Cassius assumed was someone who worked there the bartender led both him and She-of-Depths through a door and into the kitchen, which Cassius was pleased to see was very well equipped.   
Setting his pack against a wall, Cassius set about preparing a work station.   
Once his hands were clean and his knives were out, Cassius looked up at the bartender.   
"Right, where's the recipe book?"   
“...There isn’t one, that’s kinda the damn problem. Apparently my damn chef doesn’t want anyone else stealing his damn recipes and now I’d gotten my damn hopes up just to have them crushed into the damn ground with this damn, damning, hhhhh.” The bartenders voice, which had been rising in volume and intensity, suddenly ended in a heavy sigh.   
Cassius didn’t even need to look at She-of-Depths to know her hopes had been crushed too, he did anyway and the look on her face reinforced a decision he’d already made.   
“Then I’ll just have to make my own damn recipe, and I’ll write this one down.” Flexing his fingers Cassius turned back to the kitchen, moving around and grabbing ingredients from shelves and sacks.   
“You can do that lad? I don’t doubt your resolve, and you seem confident in your skills, but there’s only so many more hours before the damn dinner rush.”   
“Well it won’t be the same but it’ll feed people.” Cassius was already chopping chunks of meat and trying to decide what else to put in the stew.   
Another hefty sigh escaped the bartender   
“Well that’s all I can hope for, listen I can’t promise you my bed for something that’ll just feed people but I’ll get the girls to wash your clothes and you and Depths can have a hot bath and at the very least a warm corner to sleep in… and hey, the beds not completely off the table, you’ll just need to perform a miracle.”   
The bartender chuckled at his own little joke but Cassius simply grunted in response, his mind too busy running through ideas to think of a proper response, he was barely aware of the bartender leaving.   
She-of-Depths voice was enough to pull him from his ruminations however,   
“Cassius Ordo… you are trying very hard.” She-of-Depths placed a hand on Cassius’ chest, a silent question clear in her eyes.  
“Well… I probably would have given up on that second night if it wasn’t for you so... I wanna do what I can to help you too.” Cassius blushed lightly as he spoke.  
She-of-Depths gave him a small smile before the hand on Cassius’ chest moved to his shoulder and she pressed her body against him.   
She-of-Depths snout found its way to the hollow of Cassius’ neck where she inhaled heavily, they stayed like that for a few moments before She-of-Depths drew back slightly to smile at him.   
Cassius wasn’t sure exactly what it was but something about the way she looked at that moment caused his mouth to move before he could even think the words.  
“Can I kiss you?”   
She-of-Depths looked at him in surprise,   
“Argonians… Argonians cannot kiss, not like humans and elves.”   
Despite her words She-of-Depths tilted her snout up and softly pulled on Cassius’ tunic.  
Cassius couldn’t have resisted the pull if he’d tried, dipping his head quickly Cassius at least managed to pause just before his lips touched She-of-Depths.   
When she didn’t move back Cassius closed the distance with a breathy moan.   
While pressing his lips to She-of-Depths scales was not odd to Cassius anymore, feeling her thin lips try and move against his was strange, strange and intoxicating.  
Gently sliding his tongue against She-of-Depths lips Cassius was rewarded by her eagerly opening her mouth to deepen the kiss.   
She-of-Depths narrow snout and sharp teeth were even more strange to feel against his lips and tongue than her lips but when her tongue darted out to play with his he was blind, deaf and numb to everything but She-of-Depths and the kiss they shared.   
When they eventually pulled back, both panting for air, their eyes met briefly before She-of-Depths pressed her head against Cassius’ chest, the sound of contented gurgling soon filled the room.   
Cassius grinned broadly, content to simply hold her, his hands resting on her hips.  
It was a few minutes before they separated, She-of-Depths slowly pulling back to look at Cassius again.  
“She-of-Depths needs to go and purchase some things for tonight… and she cannot help here.”   
With that said She-of-Depths took a step back but paused with arm outstretched, still holding onto Cassius’ tunic.   
Cassius watched as She-of-Depths gaze flickered between her hand and his lips, temptation written across her face, eventually she released him.   
“She-of-Depths will be back.” The not so subtle promise in her words had Cassius grinning again.   
Turning back to his workspace was quickly distracted by She-of-Depths again.  
“Cassius Ordo. Make the stew spicy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kinda wanted to end with the kiss but like, still good right?   
> I hope you all enjoyed, it is currently 1:30am the day after my 26th birthday, writing this got me out of some sad boy times so hey, maybe it can bring some of you out of sad boy times too.   
> Peace.


End file.
